Game recap from Bobby Parker-
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Cold Start, Finish Lead to First Loss in Brazil for Bradley Courtesy: Bradley University
Release: 08/14/2009
S??O CARLOS, Brazil -- Not even the presence of Brazilian basketball legend Marcel de Souza on the Bradley bench could help the Braves overcome a cold start and finish in the final game of pool play Friday night at the COPA EPTV Basketball Tournament. Paulistano (2-1) rode a 14-0, game-ending run to a 70-63 victory against Bradley (2-1) at Gimn??sio Milton Olaio Filho and a spot in Saturday night's tournament championship game.
The Braves, who suffered their first loss in four games so far on their Brazilian tour, will play in the tournament's third-place game at 3 p.m. (CT) Saturday against XV de Paracicaba, which also posted a 2-1 record in Group 2 pool play.
"Coming down the stretch, they made more plays," said Bradley head
Jim Les. "I think part of that was due to a little fatigue and we weren't able to string together stops as a result. That was a good offensive team with a lot of skill and we weren't able to get the stops when we needed to late in the game."
Senior guard
Chris Roberts led the Braves with 15 points, eight rebounds and five steals. Junior guard
Sam Maniscalco followed with 14 points, sophomore forward
Taylor Brown added 12 points and seven rebounds and senior guard
Dodie Dunson chipped in with 12 points.
With two games to scout one another, Friday's showdown quickly developed into a defensive struggle and neither team was able to get into a consistent offensive flow. The Braves missed their first eight field goal attempts and compounded 2-for-13 shooting in the first quarter by committing five turnovers. Paulistano was unable to gain much separation, however, making only 5-of-14 field goal attempts itself with three turnovers en route to a 16-10 lead after the first 10 minutes.
Bradley's cold start continued into the second quarter and the Braves eventually fell behind by double-digits, 23-12.
Anthony Thompson broke the spell with a high-arching jump hook, allowing the Braves to start a 16-5 surge that resulted in a 28-28 tie at halftime. Maniscalco and Roberts followed Thompson's basket with 3-pointers and the duo each scored five points during the tying run.
The defensive intensity continued into the second half as Bradley took a 44-41 lead into the fourth quarter. It appeared Bradley might finally take control when Maniscalco buried a 3-pointer for a 63-56 advantage with just under five minutes remaining, but the Braves ran out of gas, missing their final six field goal attempts and committing three turnovers during Paulistano's clinching run.
Notes: Following the introduction of the players before the game, Bradley presented former Brave and Brazilian National Team star Marcel de Souza his picture that hung in the Bradley Athletics Hall of Fame in Robertson Memorial Fieldhouse ... A new Hall of Fame museum, featuring new photos, will be part of the Bradley Athletics Performance Center, currently under construction at the site of the old Robertson Fieldhouse ... The start of the Bradley-Paulistano game was delayed as Friday's first game in Group 1 went into overtime ... In Friday's first game in Group 1, Bauru (1-2) downed Lupo Araraquara (1-2), 94-92, in overtime ... Bauru will play in the tournament's fifth-place game Saturday ... During Friday night's third round, both the game clocks and shot clocks were functioning in traditional fashion ... Unlike most basketball games in the USA, teams have started each game playing offense on the same side as their bench.
