Bradley Swept by Indiana State

  The Bradley Braves went on the road to Terre Haute, Indiana to take on the Indiana State Sycamores this past Sunday and Monday. The Braves returned to Peoria 0-2 after a very frustrating 0-6 skid that includes and 0-4 record in road games. The first game Sunday was a back and forth for most of the first half until the 6 minute mark when Indiana State pushed their 21-20 lead to 27-20. Each teams traded baskets before the end of the half and the Sycamores went into halftime with a 34-29 lead. Ville Tahvanainen lead the way offensively for Bradley scoring 13 first half points and Cobi Barnes lead the way for Indiana State chipping in 8 points. The second half saw Indiana State jump out early and build leads of 8 and 10 before Bradley began chipping away at their lead. After going up 45-35 with 13:54 left in the second half Bradley went on a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to 45-41 with still over 11 minutes left in the game. A Jacob Laravia 3-pointer put Indiana State up 56-51with 4:39 remaining in the game. Bradley responded with a 6-0 run, capped off by a Ja'Shon Henry layup that gave the Braves a 57-56 lead. After the Sycamores tied the game up with an earlier free throw, Cameron Bacote found Jacob Laravia for the go ahead layup with 1:10 left in the game. The Braves would come up empty the rest of the game and a late free throw for Indiana State gave them a 60-57 victory. Ville Tahvanainen finished the game with a game high 17 for Bradley and Tyreke Key and Jacob Laravia both had 12 for Indiana State.

Game Two on Monday was more of the same for the Bradley Braves. They kept it very close the entire first half never trailing by more than 7 and they went into halftime down 30-24. Bradley didn't shoot the ball very well in this game, they were 9-27 for 33% from the field and 3-13 for 23% from 3-point range. Rienk Mast, who has been filling in very nicely for the injured Ari Boya, led Bradley with 7 first half points. Indiana State had another very balanced scoring attack with Cooper Neese leading the way for the Sycamores with 9 points. The first 10 minutes of the first half were really starting to go Bradley's way, they started making baskets and cut Indiana State's lead to 47-43. Nothing really went Bradley way after that point and Cameron Bacote's back-to-back 3's a couple possessions later to make it a 55-46 ballgame put Bradley in a hole that they just couldn't climb out of. Indiana State ended up winning the game by a final score of 67-55 to move them to 10-7 overall and 7-5 in MVC play. Bradley meanwhile falls to 9-10 overall and 3-7 in Valley play. Bradley finished the game 22-57 from the field and just 4-23 from beyond the arc. Indiana State finished 24-50 and 7-16 from 3, which included a 5-9 clip in the second half. Bradley had 3 scorers in double figures including Rienk Mast who led the way with 17 and Indiana State got a game high 19 from Guard Tyreke Key. Bradley is back in action this Saturday and Sunday at Carver Arena against Southern Illinois. Indiana State gets back into action Saturday and Sunday against Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa.