PEORIA, IL – The Bradley Basketball alumni team, Always A Brave, is making the most of its unofficial 10-year reunion.  Led by seven members of the 2005-06 Bradley squad that enjoyed a Cinderella run to the 2006 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, Always A Brave has united for another deep tournament run and is preparing for the championship round of the 2016 The Basketball Tournament.

With two wins this past weekend in the TBT Super 16 in Philadelphia against Pedro's Posse (92-65) and Golden Eagles Alumni (89-81), Always A Brave has advanced to the tournament semifinals Saturday at Fordham University's Rose Hill Gym in the Bronx, where the alumni squad will face Team Colorado in a 4 p.m. CT game to be televised on ESPN.  A shot at the TBT's winner-take-all $2 million prize will be on the line as the semifinal winners will square off in the tournament championship game Tuesday night (6 p.m. CT) on ESPN.

---

Local fans will have an opportunity to send the team off to New York Thursday evening, while simultaneously benefitting the Marcellus Sommerville Foundation.  Buffalo Wild Wings Grand Prairie (5121 West American Prairie Drive, Peoria, IL) will host an Always A Brave Send-Off Party from 5-8 p.m. Thursday and the restaurant will donate 15 percent of food sales generated by all fans wearing Bradley gear to the Marcellus Sommerville Foundation.  The majority of the Always A Brave squad will be in attendance Thursday, enjoying their final team meal together before departing for New York (Daniel Ruffin, Marcellus Sommerville and coach A.J. Guyton will be in attendance during the middle of the party in between sessions of Thursday's Pride of Peoria 2016 Skills Clinic.  Sam Maniscalco, Chicago, and Matt Salley, Charlotte, will be joining with the team in New York).

Local fans also may enjoy a day of Bradley events Saturday, beginning with an Always A Brave TBT viewing party at Buffalo Wild Wings East Peoria (833 W. Camp Street, East Peoria, IL) during the team's 4 p.m. CT game on ESPN.  The Peoria Chiefs also are hosting Bradley Night for Saturday's game against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.  The first 1,500 fans through the gates at Dozer Park for Saturday's 6:30 p.m. game will receive a Chiefs/Bradley University hat.  Bradley Athletics coaches and staff will be in attendance at all three events Thursday and Saturday and Bradley's head coaches will participate in the ceremonial first pitch at the Chiefs game.

---

Fans on the East Coast interested in attending the TBT Championship Round may purchase half-priced, discounted tickets online through the TBT website, www.thetournament.com, using the promo code BRAVE2016 for as long as Always A Brave is still alive in the tournament.  Semifinal tickets range from $20-100 for adults, $10-50 for children (ages 3-12), based on location.

The Basketball Tournament is in its third year and is an open-application, winner-take-all, 5-on-5 basketball tournament offering a $2 million cash prize to the champion.  The 2016 tournament began with 64 teams determined by a combination of fan voting (44 teams), fundraising efforts (4), previous tournament success (4 2015 region champions) and at-large invitations (12).  The winning team will share $1.8 million and the top 100 fans of the winning team determined through an online voting system in the spring will share the remaining $200,000.  Notre Dame Fighting Alumni won the inaugural tournament's $500,000 prize and 2015 champion Overseas Elite, also a 2016 semifinalist, won last year's $1 million prize.

Always A Brave Bradley Alumni Team
Tony Bennett (2004-06)
Jeremy Crouch (2004-08)
Will Franklin (2005-07)
Phillip Gilbert (2000-04)
Sam Maniscalco (2007-11)
Patrick O'Bryant (2004-06)
Daniel Ruffin (2003-08)
Matt Salley (2005-07)
Marcellus Sommerville (2003-06)
Head Coach:  A.J. Guyton (Indiana '00)
Assistant Coach:  Chuck Buescher (Bradley '67)
General Manager:  Bobby Parker, Bradley Associate AD for Communications and Operations

The Road to New York
#TBT2016 Midwest Regional | #9 Region Seed
July 16 vs. (8) 120 Sports, W, 74-68
July 17 vs. (16) Jackson TN UnderDawgs, W, 78-77 (Trailed 77-72 with 17 seconds remaining)
July 22 vs. (5) Pedro's Posse, W, 92-64
July 23 vs. (6) Golden Eagles Alumni, W, 89-81
July 28 – Always A Brave Send-Off Party, 5-8 p.m., Buffalo Wild Wings Grand Prairie
July 30 vs. (West 5) Team Colorado, 4 p.m. CT, ESPN
    Always A Brave Viewing Party, 4-6 p.m., Buffalo Wild Wings East Peoria
    Bradley Night with the Chiefs, 6:30 p.m., Dozer Park (Bradley hat giveaway)
Aug. 2 Championship Game, 6 p.m. CT, ESPN