Missouri Valley Conference rival Wichita State, Bradley University could not hold a 6-3 lead in the ninth inning, allowing the Shockers (20-16, 6-2 MVC) to rally for a 10-6 win in 10 innings Saturday afternoon at Peoria Chiefs Stadium. Trying to climb out of that 6-3 hole, Wichita State had a runner at second with two outs in the top of the ninth, then got an RBI double from Micah Green in front of four consecutive walks from Bradley pitchers Andy Johnson (three) and Stephen Toma to force extra innings tied at 6-6. The fifth and sixth runs actually scored on wild pitches, one from each reliever. The Braves put the potential winning run on base in the bottom of the ninth when Mike Tauchman worked a 10-pitch at-bat for a 2-out single and took second on a wild pitch, but he was tagged out at third on a Max Murphy high-hopper. After scoring four runs on two walks and four singles in the top of the 10th, the Shockers made an effort to give the game back to the Braves in the home half of the extra frame by loading the bases on a 2-out, 3rd-strike passed ball and consecutive walks. Representing the tying run while standing in for his third career plate appearance, freshman pitcher Elliot Ashbeck just missed on a heroic swing, but ended the game with a fly ball to the right field warning track. The late-game events spoiled the first career start for Bradley left-hander Brent Stong, who allowed three runs, two earned, on six hits in 5.1 innings.
-Bob
Freshman Nik Stauskas scored 22 points in his first start and No. 3 Michigan survived a late run to beat Bradley 74-66 on Saturday in front of 11,019 fans at Carver Arena. Stauskas started for Matt Vogrich and delivered early with eight first-half points to help the Wolverines (7-0) hold onto a narrow halftime lead, 34-30. Walt Lemon Jr. led Bradley (5-2) on a late run to close to 70-65 with half a minute to play. But the Braves were forced to foul and the Wolverines held on to win. Trey Burke added 16 in the Wolverines’ first trip to Bradley since 1997. Glenn Robinson III scored 13 and Jordan Morgan scored 10 and pulled down 10 rebounds. Lemon led the Braves in double-figures with 15 points. Tyshon Pickett added 11, who also got 10 points each from Will Egolf, Jalen Crawford and Jordan Prosser.
-Bob
The Grand Rapids Griffins extended their winning streak to eight games with a 4-1 victory over the Peoria Rivermen Saturday at Carver Arena. The Rivermen (6-9-2-1) struck first in the contest as Chris Bruton scored his first goal of the season at 5:10 of the opening period. Cutting to the net after a faceoff, Bruton’s backhand shot from the left side of the goal deflected underneath Tom McCollum’s right arm for the game’s first goal. The Griffins (10-4-1-1) tied the game at one on a power play goal at 12:42 of the first period. Gustav Nyquist’s shot deflected off of the goal post and Landon Ferraro and Francis Pare unleashed a flurry of shots on goaltender Mike McKenna. Their persistency paid off as Pare’s final attempt found the back of the net, extending his point streak to six games. Tomas Tatar sealed the game less than two minutes later when Nyquist found him in stride streaking down center ice. Tatar scored his second goal of the night on an empty net from 20 feet away to give the Griffins a 4-1 lead. Peoria goalie Mike McKenna recorded 40 saves while McCollum earned the win behind 22 saves, improving to 4-2-1 on the year. Click here for game stats.
-Bob
Former Bradley Basketball and NBA star Anthony Parker was inducted into the Bradley Athletics Hall of Fame Monday evening at half-time of the Bradley-UTPA basketball game. Parker played in one of the two previous on-campus games as a freshman, helping the Braves to an 81-63 victory versus Illinois Wesleyan Dec. 1, 1993 at Robertson Memorial Field House. The 1996 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, when he led the Braves to the MVC regular-season title and an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament, Parker was a 3-time All-MVC performer during his time on The Hilltop and he remains the ninth-leading scorer in program history with 1,683 career points. Parker was the 21st overall selection in the 1997 NBA Draft by the New Jersey Nets and he enjoyed a 16-year professional playing career. Following three injury-plagued seasons in the NBA, Parker took his game overseas and became a star with Maccabi Tel Aviv, helping the team to five Israeli Premier League championships from 2001-06, as well as five Israeli Cups and three Euroleague titles (2001, 2004 and 2005). A two-time Euroleague MVP, Parker was named one of the top 50 players in the 2007-08 celebration of 50 years of European Club basketball. He returned to the NBA in 2006 by signing a free agent contract with the Toronto Raptors and he had been one of the league’s most-accurate 3-point shooters the last six seasons. In total, Parker played in 494 NBA games, including 423 starts, averaging 9.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 27.8 minutes per game. He drained 40.4 percent (596-1,474) of his career 3-point field goal attempts and he scored 4,717 regular-season and playoff points. In addition to his statistical numbers, Parker won the Atlantic Division’s 2007 NBA Sportsmanship Award in a league-wide vote of players. He played the final three seasons in his 9-year NBA career for the Cleveland Cavaliers, teaming with LeBron James for the NBA’s best regular-season record in 2009-10.
-Bob
Central Michigan had four players score in double figures and the Chippewas shot 54.5 percent from the field in the second half to pull away from Bradley in the final 20 minutes and top the Braves 73-58 Friday afternoon at Renaissance Coliseum. Junior guard Catie O’Leary scored a game-high 17 points and senior Katie Yohn turned in her first career double-double with 13 points and career-high 14 rebounds to lead Bradley (0-1 overall). Junior Alyson Spinas-Valainis matched a career-best with eight points in her first career start and fellow junior Kelly Frings chipped in with nine points off the bench. Central Michigan scored on 10 consecutive possessions, extending the advantage to 15 points (64-49) with just under six minutes left on the clock and held a 16-point advantage with four and a half minutes remaining. Bradley cut the CMU advantage to 10 points on a Frings’ three-pointer with 58 seconds left, but got no closer down the stretch as the Chippewas took the opener 73-58. Bradley shot 26.8 percent from the field in the second half and finished the contest shooting 29.9 percent. The crowd of 1,474 on hand as part of Field Trip Day presented by Applebee’s was the largest crowd for a Bradley home opener since drawing 2,068 fans for the 2005-06 season opener. Final game stats.
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-Bob
