Bradley Men End Losing Streak But Still Settle for a Split against SIU

After a losing streak that spanned 6 games and lasted a little under a month, the Bradley Braves finally got back into the win column Saturday at Carver Arena. It looked like the Braves were going to pull away from the Salukis early in this one, building leads of 7, 8, and 9 in the first half before SIU battled back to tie the game at 20 all with just under 7 minutes left to play. The Braves ended up taking a narrow 32-31 lead into halftime due in large part to 6 points each from Forwards Elijah Childs and Rienk Mast. Southern Illinois was carried by a big first half for Lance Jones who scored 12 points and was 4-5 from the 3pt line. Bradley's biggest issues over the course of this losing streak has been very inconsistent play, especially from the Guard position, and getting into foul trouble and sending other teams to the line for easy points at the free throw line. Bradley however was the aggressor early drawing 8 fouls and shooting 11-11 at the free throw line. Their guards combined for 14 points in the first half and it was a welcome sight to see Kevin McAdoo back on the court for Bradley, the Junior guard is an exceptional shooter and great ball handler who made his first start for the Braves. After back-to-back 3's to start the half by Elijah Childs and Terry Nolan Jr Bradley's lead quickly jumped to 37-31. SIU would continue to cut into their deficit early in the second half getting it as close as 40-39 before Bradley went on a 7-0 run that included two more 3's by Childs and Nolan Jr and a layup by Nolan Jr. That would give the Braves a 47-39 lead with 16 minutes left to play. Just when it looked like the Braves were gonna pull away the Salukis cut the lead to 2 before tying the game at 52-52 and 54-54 with under 9 minutes remaining in the game. Bradley would put on a fantastic closing stretch that included 9 points from Terry Nolan Jr that was apart of his 18 point second half. Bradley hit some free throws late and sealed a 74-66 victory to snap the 6 game skid. The Braves were lead by Terry Nolan Jr's game high 23 and a 15 point 12 rebound double double for Elijah Childs. SIU was lead by Lance Jones who only finished the game with 15 points after starting the game on fire. 

The second game on Sunday was back and forth until the final buzzer. Bradley started the game on a 6-0 run before SIU settled in and scored 7 straight points. The Braves would quickly regain control and would lead until a Sekou Dembele layup gave SIU a 16-15 advantage with 12:14 remaining in the first half. Ville Tahvanainen got to the rim on a fast break to tie the game at 19-19 and Darius Hannah gave Bradley the lead on a run out the very next possession. The Braves would close out the last 10 minutes of the half strong and took a 43-37 lead into the break. Ben Harvey led the way offensively for the Salukis in the first half scoring 8 points and dishing out 3 assists. Bradley got 8 points off the bench from Ville Tahvanainen and 7 points and 4 assists from Terry Nolan Jr. The two teams traded baskets to start the second half but then Bradley's halftime lead started to dwindle. Trent Brown's 3-pointer cut the lead to 48-47 and after Lance Jones buried another 3 on the following offensive possession SIU found themselves up 50-48. Ja'Shon Henry, who had a big game for Bradley, tied the game at 50-50 but that momentum was short lived because Trent Brown drilled his fourth 3 of the game 19 seconds later to put SIU back on top 53-50. The Salukis would build their lead all the way up to 9 points with 8:10 left in the game before Bradley began to claw its way back into the game. After an SIU layup made the score 68-62, Ja'Shon Henry would score the last 6 points of the game for Bradley highlighted by a layup with 1:24 left in the game to tie it at 68-68. SIU found the ball in their hands with 19 seconds remaining and trusted Lance Jones to make a play late. The Sophomore did just that attacking the rim and drawing a foul with 0:02 left on the clock. After missing the first free throw, he buried the second one to help the Salukis escape with a 69-68 victory. SIU had 4 players score in double figures but they were led by Trent Brown's 14 points. Ja'Shon Henry led the way for Bradley pouring in a game high 17 points to go along with Rienk Mast's 14 points and 8 rebounds. The loss dropped Bradley back under .500 at 10-11 and 4-8 in conference play. For SIU however they pick up a much needed conference victory to push them to 9-7 on the season and 3-7 in conference play.