Drake (17-14) scored the game’s first 12 points and never looked back, downing Bradley (7-25) with a 65-49 victory in the first round of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Thursday night at Scottrade Center. Rayvonte Rice scored a game-high 18 points, while Ben Simons added 16 for the Bulldogs. Walt Lemon, Jr. led the Braves with 16 points and shared team-high honors by matching his career-high with seven rebounds. Dyricus Simms-Edwards was the game’s only other double-digit scorer, finishing with 14 points. Click here for complete game stats.
-Bob
Bradley sophomore guard Walt Lemon, Jr. came off the bench to score a game-high 21 points, but Illinois State (18-12, 9-9 MVC) overcame some cold shooting to pull out a 54-53 win against the Interstate 74 rival Braves (7-24, 2-16 MVC) Saturday afternoon at Carver Arena. While Lemon made 7-of-13 field goal attempts, he was the only Brave to shoot better than 33 percent from the field, as the rest of the team combined to make just 11-of-46 (.239) field goal attempts. Jackie Carmichael led the Redbirds with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Ekey added 10 points, while Dyricus Simms-Edwards scored 14 for Bradley to complete the double-digit scoring. Click here for Box Score.
-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
Evansville wings Colt Ryan (24 points, 9 assists) and Denver Holmes (23, 11) combined for 47 points and 20 assists, leading the visiting Purple Aces (11-11, 6-6 MVC) to a 92-62 win at Bradley (6-18, 1-11 MVC) Wednesday night at Carver Arena. Senior forward Taylor Brown led three Braves in double-figures with 18 points, while Jake Eastman scored 11 off the bench and Jordan Prosser finished with 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Evansville finished the game 41-for-68 (.603) from the field for the game, scoring the most field goals against Bradley since #4 UNLV converted 47 field goals in a 107-106 win Feb. 1, 1977 at Robertson Fieldhouse. The 31 assists by the Purple Aces were the most-ever by a visiting opponent against the Braves and equaled the third-most ever against Bradley.
-Bob
