Final score: Bradley 69 Loyola 67

[tornado]

Yep. Loyola got hosed

....the ref did either miss the hand in the net or possibly just ruled it was inconsequential...not sure the shot was affected and was going to miss anyway
There were plenty of bad calls to go around, and Loyola got the benefit of a few in the crucial stretch run when they closed an 11-point lead in a five minute span going to the FT line 6 times.. and the refs missed a terribly obvious travelling call on Loyola, too

edit- I watched the replay a few more times and the rim did move...so we did get the benefit....

[Braves2006]

I didn’t see exactly whose hand it was, but it did look like it could’ve been a GT. There was one on the other end earlier... same deal and no call with defenders hand in the net. There were several offsetting calls that went both ways. It was a well reffed game and we won fair and square.

Agreed. They got hosed on that call, but takes nothing away from Braves victory.

[tornado]

wow- near record 400+ online currently at BradleyFans

[NewYorkBradleyFan]

It was 64-61, and the most typical Bradley basketball thing possible happened, where we got a HUGE block, which unfortunately of course turned into a wide open 3, which of course they drained. Any other game in any other of the last 5 years, we are done. That shot after that play is so incredibly demoralizing.

What we finally have is a a team with a will to win. This also happend half a week ago, when we led the whole game, lost the lead at that incredibly crucial time (around the 10 minute mark on the road) and found a way to not give up and win the game.

Guys, this team doesnt give up. Even when things go wrong they know they have it in them to win. This is absolutely awesome. Proud of these kids and the will to win.

[BUfan39]

It was 64-61, and the most typical Bradley basketball thing possible happened, where we got a HUGE block, which unfortunately of course turned into a wide open 3, which of course they drained. Any other game in any other of the last 5 years, we are done. That shot after that play is so incredibly demoralizing.

What we finally have is a a team with a will to win. This also happend half a week ago, when we led the whole game, lost the lead at that incredibly crucial time (around the 10 minute mark on the road) and found a way to not give up and win the game.

Guys, this team doesnt give up. Even when things go wrong they know they have it in them to win. This is absolutely awesome. Proud of these kids and the will to win.

Couldn't have said it better. So many Bradley teams in past years would have lost these close games but not this one. I'm so proud of how far we've come. Man tonight was fun. I'm still on a high.

[BuB]

Mmm

I disagree....the ref did either miss the hand in the net or possibly just ruled it was inconsequential...as the rim never moved and the shot wasn't affected and was going to miss anyway
There were plenty of bad calls to go around, and Loyola got the benefit of a few in the crucial stretch run when they closed an 11-point lead in a five minute span going to the FT line 6 times.. and the refs missed a terribly obvious travelling call on Loyola, too

Good game, especially in the 1st half...... This was a missed goal tending call. The rim clearly moved and was pulled down by someone grabbing the net. Replays showed the rim dropping which affected the ball as it was bouncing/rolling around the rim. Doesn't matter if it was going in or not. We caught a break.

[Buesch N Chips]

Probably the biggest game in terms of meaning/excitement in 10 years. Snell had more energy in his voice on the radio call than I have heard in a long, long time.

[Jim]

Special night!

Congratulations to the Bradley coaches and players on a job well done!!

This was a special game for my family. In addition to the exciting game, Caterpillar, Bradley and the Honor Flight honored my 94 year old father-in-law for his service in the US Navy. What an honor for us! The recognition the crowd gave my father-in-law was outstanding and greatly appreciated! I wish every veteran could experience that. Many thanks to Bradley and the folks at the Honor Flight!!

Lastly, we had over 20 family members at the game and most of them had never been to a Bradley game. What a great introduction to Bradley Basketball! Hopefully some of them will return for future games.

[Dub]

Congratulations to the Bradley coaches and players on a job well done!!

This was a special game for my family. In addition to the exciting game, Caterpillar, Bradley and the Honor Flight honored my 94 year old father-in-law for his service in the US Navy. What an honor for us! The recognition the crowd gave my father-in-law was outstanding and greatly appreciated! I wish every veteran could experience that. Many thanks to Bradley and the folks at the Honor Flight!!

Lastly, we had over 20 family members at the game and most of them had never been to a Bradley game. What a great introduction to Bradley Basketball! Hopefully some of them will return for future games.

Jim, that is fantastic. Thank you for taking the time to share this. Last night was one to remember.

[BUfan39]

Congratulations to the Bradley coaches and players on a job well done!!

This was a special game for my family. In addition to the exciting game, Caterpillar, Bradley and the Honor Flight honored my 94 year old father-in-law for his service in the US Navy. What an honor for us! The recognition the crowd gave my father-in-law was outstanding and greatly appreciated! I wish every veteran could experience that. Many thanks to Bradley and the folks at the Honor Flight!!

Lastly, we had over 20 family members at the game and most of them had never been to a Bradley game. What a great introduction to Bradley Basketball! Hopefully some of them will return for future games.

Might I add he looks like a young man! Congratulations to your father-in-law, Jim!

[bigjimmy]

Glad you and your family enjoyed your father in laws recognition, which is well deserved, as well as the game, which I think we all enjoyed. Here's to hoping their will be more bigger games to come. It was nice to see us win without DB taking a lot of shots. That just means that everyone got involved in the offense which really makes us tough to defend. Sometimes we have to depend on DB too much and that's when the offense can bog down a bit. Still it was no shocker that DB scored 6 of his 8 points in the last 2:00 minutes. Elijah just keeps getting better and better and Nate looks like he's out of his mini shooting slump. While Stipanovich seems to have found a way into the lineup Luuk seems to have found his way out of it. DLO and Donte, along with DB, are all making their case for all MVC. From where the expectations were for this team at the start of the season I would say we have already exceeded them. The next 5 weeks will show just how far we can go. By the way Loyola is really good. They will be a tough out at Arch Madness. But you know what so will we.

[LittleBrave]

What a great entertaining game! Bradley beats the top team and goes to 17-7 overall, 7-4 in the MVC, and 12-0 at home this year.

Tremendous game by freshman Elijah Childs- 18 points and 7 rebounds, with zero turnovers. Plus he played great defense inside, and helped limit All American Cameron Krutwig (just kidding, but we sure made him look like and All American last time we played Loyola) to 13 points and 8 rebounds....still a pretty nice game for the freshman but not like last time.
Clayton Custer was a ton with a career high 23 points and 5-9 from three. But his last-gasp attempt to tie the game at the buzzer was just late and missed anyway.
I thought Bradley's overall defensive effort was great. They held oyola below their season scoring average, below their season shooting percentage, and even slightly below they 3-point shooting average.
Bradley passed the ball well, and had 20 assists on 24 baskets.
And, Bradley outrebounded Loyola 34-26.
There were still a few too many turnovers (17 for the game), but some of that was because Loyola is a good defensive team, and they played some strange defensive sets, double-teaming ball handlers and low post players all night. It lead to a lot of layups and easy baskets for Bradley. They had 30 points in the paint.

Attendance was 5,753 - getting better, but still not where we'd all like to see it.

Official stats-
http://www.bubraves.com/documents/20..._Loyola_67.pdf

Nice to get a W, and some good things that came out of it. I feel like we didn't play our best - probably better vs Missouri St.

Poor turnout for a very significant game - I was a little surprised watching the sparse crowd on t.v.

Brown played a solid game again - didn't put up the #'s but he let the game come to him and wasn't worried about getting his usual double-digit scoring.
Childs just doesn't get phased by much - is he only a freshman???

[basketball nut]

What a great entertaining game! Bradley beats the top team and goes to 17-7 overall, 7-4 in the MVC, and 12-0 at home this year.

Tremendous game by freshman Elijah Childs- 18 points and 7 rebounds, with zero turnovers. Plus he played great defense inside, and helped limit All American Cameron Krutwig (just kidding, but we sure made him look like and All American last time we played Loyola) to 13 points and 8 rebounds....still a pretty nice game for the freshman but not like last time.
Clayton Custer was a ton with a career high 23 points and 5-9 from three. But his last-gasp attempt to tie the game at the buzzer was just late and missed anyway.
I thought Bradley's overall defensive effort was great. They held oyola below their season scoring average, below their season shooting percentage, and even slightly below they 3-point shooting average.
Bradley passed the ball well, and had 20 assists on 24 baskets.
And, Bradley outrebounded Loyola 34-26.
There were still a few too many turnovers (17 for the game), but some of that was because Loyola is a good defensive team, and they played some strange defensive sets, double-teaming ball handlers and low post players all night. It lead to a lot of layups and easy baskets for Bradley. They had 30 points in the paint.

Attendance was 5,753 - getting better, but still not where we'd all like to see it.

Official stats-
http://www.bubraves.com/documents/20..._Loyola_67.pdf

It was a lot of fun and the attendance figure surprised me as there were more students at the game then I've seen in a long time. The best thing was the noise in the arena and the students were loud and standing a lot. We sit on the mezzanine kind of behind the band and the students were out and loud. I stood more then normal last night. I would have thought w/ the students that were there would easily have pushed the attnd. to over 6000.
I told some of the students they needed to be there Saturday night and get more students and be louder yet and they agreed.

[64NIT]

Great game, indeed. BU wasn't intimidated by playing the first-place team in the league and they held them when they closed the gap in the final minutes.

I wonder if it's too early to say BU has turned the corner. In any event, congrats to the team and to Coach Wardle.

[tornado]

nice piece on DLo and the Loyola game

http://www.centralillinoisproud.com/sports/local-sports/bradleys-d-low-a-jack-of-all-trades/947499351

http://www.centralillinoisproud.com/sports/local-sports/surging-bradley-beats-valley-leaders/947887610