Final: Bradley 79 Drake 72

[Da Coach]

3 additional players from 1995-96 team who weren't here Friday- honored at halftime- James Baptist, Gavin Schairer, and Marcus Samuels.

[Da Coach]

Bradley 79 Drake 72
Stats:

http://www.sidearmstats.com/bradley/mbball/

[tornado]

best & most enjoyable game this year...
played well, led the whole way...endured a little Drake comeback, defended well, shot FT's pretty well
and also the real enjoyment of seeing & talking with the heroes from the 1995-96 team...great to see them

[Da Coach]

A completely different game than the game Wednesday at SIU. This time, it was Bradley that got off to a fast start, shot well, didn't turn the ball over, and raced out to an 18 point lead at halftime. Then Bradley struggled and took some lower-percentage shots in the 2nd half, and allowed Drake to come back with 49 2nd half points to close the lead to 5 points a couple times inside the final minute, but Bradley made their last 14 points of the game over the final 6 minutes from the free throw line to hold on for the 79-72 win.

Box score-

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=400918247

Some positives-
Darrell Brown didn't score until late in the first half, but ended up with a team-leading 20 points. He was 14-15 on free throws, many of them in the final minutes. Plus he had 5 assists and only 1 turnover.
Jayden Hodgson played his usual steady game, had 6 points on 2-2 from the three point line, and he had 7 assists and 2 turnovers.
Koch Bar had 10 points and 4 rebounds. he was 6-8 on FTs, and had a technical foul for "unsportsmanlike conduct" after a nice block of a Drake layup. I did not think he deserved a technical, he did not demonstrate any taunting behavior but then I couldn't hear what might have been said. But I liked seeing the emotion!
Donte Thomas had another spectacular game, and should be the Player of the Game. He had 19 points on 7-9 from the field, including Bradley's first 3 points on a 3-point shot. He also had 9 rebounds, , and drew a bunch of fouls on the Drake big menplayed excellent defense on Drake's inside players.
Luuk van Bree (7 points, 3 rebounds ) and Jojo McGlaston (11 points, 6 rebounds) played very well off the bench.

[Da Coach]

In addition to the 1995-96 MVC Championship/NCAA team, I talked with Ka'darryl Bell, who drove down from Chicago (where he now lives and works) to watch the game. He is playing pro ball for the Chicago Steam of the ABA. They play a game tonight.

There was even a future Basketball Hall of Famer present, who many Bradley fans will remember, even though she never played for Bradley. Candace Parker accompanied Anthony, his wife, and his mom to the game.
A couple former Bradley greats who were at the luncheon Friday, were not at the game today- Coach Rob Judson and Coach Bily Wright had to leave and return to their coaching duties. But there were 3 additional former players who were able to make it today, who were not at Friday's festivities- Gavin Schairer, Marcus Samuels, and James Baptist, all of whom looked great!
The others from the 1995-96 team who were honored at halftime included: Anthony Parker, Aaron Zobrist, Deon Jackson, Kerry Burrell, Bayo Akinkunle, Chad Kleine, and Coach Pat Donohue.

It was great seeing all the former Bradley Braves at today's game!

[tornado]

just a reminder - that if we can finish 9-9 - no .500 team has ever had to play on Thursday

[LongTimeFan]

t, as they say, I am not holding my breath for an even split in the valley.

[Da Coach]

In order to finish 9-9, Bradley would have to go 5-1 over their last 6 games.
The last 6 MVC games are:
Home vs. Indiana St.
At Illinois State
At UNI
Home vs. Evansville
Home vs. Missouri St.
At Drake

[tornado]

I know it's a stretch but I think things are looking up..
I have a good feeling...

[Da Coach]

Here is the report from BradleyBraves.com

Recap- http://www.bubraves.com/news/2017/2/...ake-79-72.aspx

Box score- http://www.bubraves.com/boxscore.asp...57&path=mbball

attendance 5,815

[bigjimmy]

just a reminder - that if we can finish 9-9 - no .500 team has ever had to play on Thursday

"Waiter I'll have what he's having". As good as BU played today to think we can end our regular season 6-1 just isn't being realistic. I'm just hoping we can put together back to back winners as it's been 87 games since we've done that. Do that and then I might start "having what he's having".

[Bradleyfan1]

Don't look now but Jayden is 14 of his last 21 from 3!

[Dub]

I think it's realistic at this point to finish out 3-3, and win one in Stl. That would be 13 wins on the year and represents a step forward for this program.

If our guys hit the off-season hard, we have an opportunity to make an even bigger step next season in the win-loss chart.

[Tulsa Brave]

just a reminder - that if we can finish 9-9 - no .500 team has ever had to play on Thursday

Drake in 2012 and our Braves in 1998 are two 9-9 teams that had to play-in. Of course, in '98, it was on Friday and not Thursday...

8-10 will likely avoid Thursday this season...

[Vent]

It was a nice win and a good day to get it on with the former MVC champs there. Just a couple days ago some fans were so irate they couldn't see straight. Remember...this is part of that roller coaster ride. I see this team going 3-3 at best, the rest of the season.