Bradley was held without a 3-point field goal for an entire game for the second time this season and the cold-shooting allowed Drake (15-12, 8-8 MVC) to escape Carver Arena with a 62-55 victory against the Braves (7-21, 2-14 MVC) Wednesday night. Bradley finished the game 0-for-20 from behind the 3-point arc, but still managed to cut an 18-point deficit with 9:35 remaining to three, 56-53, with 1:20 remaining. Compounding Wednesday’s shooting struggles, season scoring leader Taylor Brown (15.3 ppg) injured his right big toe early in the first half and managed only seven scoreless minutes. Sophomore guard Walt Lemon, Jr. tried to pick up the slack by scoring a game-high 22 points off the Bradley bench. Sophomore center Jordan Prosser was Bradley’s only other double-digit scorer, finishing with 10 points and nine rebounds. Junior swingman Jake Eastman equaled a career-high with 10 boards. Rayvonte Rice paced the Bulldogs with 15 points, while Kurt Alexander added 15 off the bench and Aaron Hawley chipped in with 12, highlighted by an off-balanced jumper from the right wing with 47 seconds left to give the Bulldogs some breathing room, 58-53. Jordan Clarke snared a career-best 16 rebounds to lead Drake’s 44-39 rebounding advantage. Click here for Final Game Stats.
-Bob
The Peoria Rivermen set a season high with 47 shots on goal and built a 5-0 lead on their way to a easy 5-2 win over the Charlotte Checkers on Saturday night in front of 7,306 at Carver Arena. A total of 13 different Rivermen recorded at least a point as they defeated the AHL Midwest Division leaders in their first visit to Peoria. The Rivs improved to 25-21-2-1 and regained sole possession of third place in the Midwest Division with the win. Ben Bishop stopped 22 of 24 shots on goal in his league-leading 21st win on the campaign while T.J. Hensick and Danny Syvret turned in multi-point efforts. Charlotte’s Jerome Samson spoiled Bishop’s shutout attempt with a goal at 3:11 in the third period and Zach Boychuk finished the scoring at 16:41 with an assist from A.J. Jenks for the Checkers. Click here for complete game statistics.
-Bob
Veteran right wing Jonathan Cheechoo recorded two assists to help the Peoria Rivermen build an early 2-0 lead, the Lake Erie Monsters rallied to score three unanswered goals to win 3-2 before 5,565 fans at Carver Arena on Friday night. Left winger Patrick Rissmiller scored the game-winning goal with 2:18 remaining in regulation after Brett Sonne was sent to the box for slashing just 47 seconds earlier. The Monsters finished the game 2-for-5 on the power play while Peoria was 1-for-3. Peoria dropped to 24-21-2-1 for 51 points and sit in ninth in the AHL’s Western Conference, two points behind the Rochester Americans for the final playoff spot. Ben Bishop stopped 20 of 23 shots on goal in the loss while Gerald Coleman allowed two goals on 34 shots. Click here for complete game stats.
-Bob
Sophomore guard Walt Lemon, Jr. came off the bench to score a career-best 26 points, leading Bradley (7-19, 2-12 MVC) to a 68-60 Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball victory versus visiting Indiana State (14-11, 5-9 MVC) Wednesday night at Carver Arena before 7,520 enthusiastic fans. The Sycamores missed its first five field goal attempts as the Braves scored the game’s first five points and never looked back. Freshman guard Jalen Crawford, who made his first career start, drained the first of his three second-half 3-pointers to open the second-half scoring, giving the Braves their first double-digit lead of the game, 29-17. After Indiana State used a 7-0 run to pull within 29-24, Crawford sank treys on consecutive possessions to quickly push the advantage to 35-24 with 13:33 left. Indiana State point guard Jake Odum posted a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while backcourt mate Dwayne Lathan scored a team-high 16 points. R.J. Mahurin added 10 points off the ISU bench. Jordan Prosser was Bradley’s only other double-digit scorer, finishing with 11 points and a team-best nine rebounds. Bradley dished out 13 assists on its 19 baskets and ended the night with as many blocked shots (7) as turnovers. Click here for the complete game statistics.
-Bob
Junior guard Tyler Brown scored a game-high 21 points, leading Illinois State (15-9, 7-6 MVC) to a 78-48 win against Interstate 74 rival Bradley (6-19, 1-12 MVC) Saturday night on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena before 7,744 fans. With the Braves big three scoring combination - Taylor Brown (5 points, 1-for-9 shooting), Dyricus Simms-Edwards (7, 3-12) and Walt Lemon, Jr. (8, 3-11) – held to 20 points on collective 7-for-32 shooting from the field, freshman guard Jalen Crawford was the team’s leading scorer with a career-best 11 points. Bryant Allen aided the Redbirds effort with 11 points off the bench, while John Wilkins chipped in with 10. Bradley will return home to host Indiana State Wednesday night at Carver Arena. Click here for game stats.
-Bob
