PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley freshman center Patrick O'Bryant (Blaine, Minn./Blaine H.S.) turned in his fifth double-double of the season with 20 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, leading Bradley (11-5, 4-4) to its 15th consecutive home victory, a 71-65 Missouri Valley Conference win versus Northern Iowa (13-5, 4-3) Saturday night at Carver Arena.
Northern Iowa began the day ranked fourth nationally in field goal percentage by shooting 52.0 percent, while Bradley brought the Valley's top field goal percentage defense into the game. Defense won out Saturday as the Braves limited UNI to a season-low 32.8 percent (21-64) from the field, including 8-for-29 (.276) from behind the 3-point line.
Junior guard Ben Jacobson led UNI with 23 points and nine rebounds. Backcourt mate Erik Crawford added 13 points and sophomore center Grant Stout chipped in with 11 points. Bradley junior forward Marcellus Sommerville (Peoria, Ill./Peoria H.S.) overcame a slow start to finish with 16 points and nine rebounds for the second consecutive game. Guards Tony Bennett (Chicago, Ill./Westinghouse H.S.) and Daniel Ruffin (Peoria, Ill./Peoria H.S.) each scored 10 points for the Braves.
After the teams battled to a 34-34 tie at the half, the start of the second period featured three more ties and two lead changes, the second when Bennett scored in transition after a steal for a 43-41 Bradley advantage. After Crawford drained a 3-pointer to pull UNI within 48-46 with 10:02 left, Ruffin answered with a trey at the other end to start a 9-3 Bradley run that gave the Braves a 57-49 lead with 6:25 remaining.
The Panthers stormed back, however, as another Crawford trey ignited a quick 8-0 UNI run that ended on a John Little layup for a 57-57 tie with 4:37 remaining. Bennett gave Bradley the lead for good, 60-57, by hitting a stand-still 3-pointer from the right wing with 3:55 to go. After an exchange of free throws by Sommerville and Jacobson, Sommerville pushed the lead to 65-59 with 2:51 to go by draining a stand-still 3-pointer of his own from the left corner.
Bradley, which made its final 15 free throw attempts of the game, completed its scoring at the free throw line by making all six of its attempts in the final 28 seconds, two each by O'Bryant, Bennett and Sommerville.
Bradley will return to action Wednesday by hosting Creighton (12-7, 4-4) in a 7:05 p.m. contest at Carver Arena. The two teams will enter Wednesday's game tied for fifth in the Valley standings. Bluejay head coach Dana Altman will be the featured speaker at the third Chiefs Club Gameday Luncheon of the year, 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Michel Student Center.
