ST. LOUIS -- Bradley's attempt to rally from a 22-point first-half deficit came up one basket short as Indiana State (11-19) dealt the Braves (13-15) a 63-61 defeat in the opening game of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Friday night at Savvis Center.
Bradley freshman center Patrick O'Bryant earned his sixth double-double of the season with 15 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Junior forward Lawrence Wright just missed a double-double of his own with a game-high 18 points and nine rebounds, while freshman guard Jeremy Crouch scored 12 points off the Bradley bench. Indiana State guard Eric Gray scored a team-high 15 points and junior guard David Moss added 13. Senior forward Amanai Daanish scored 12 points, but more importantly, was the primary defender against Bradley's Marcellus Sommerville and held the league's third-leading scorer to seven points on 3-for-10 shooting.
Bradley scored the game's first points on an O'Bryant basket in the lane, but the Sycamores scored the next seven to take the lead for good. After Sommerville pulled the Braves within five, 12-7, with 14:28 left in the first half, Indiana State overwhelmed Bradley with a 23-6 surge, capped by a Moss 3-pointer with 6:16 left for a 35-13 advantage. Bradley pulled to within 13 points on two occassions and had a chance to draw even closer inside the final two minutes of the half before Indiana State settled for a 44-28 advantage at the break.
After Indiana State shot 51.9 percent (14-27) in the first half, the Braves turned in an impressive defensive effort in the second half, limiting the Sycamores to 5-for-25 (.200) shooting in the final 20 minutes. Indiana State did not score until Gabriel Moore hit a baseline jumper 6:51 into the half. That basket was the first of three Sycamore buckets in a span of 1:39 that opened a six-point lead back up to 14, 52-38, with 11:30 to go.
The Braves made one more push and finally closed to within one possession, 59-57, following a Wright dunk with 51 seconds remaining. Bradley made another good defensive stand, and with the shot clock winding down, reserve Brandon Ray scored his first points of the game on an awkward shot in the lane, which resembled more of a volleyball set than an actual field goal attempt. After a Bradley turnover, Ray upped the lead to 62-57 by making one of two free throws with 16 seconds left.
Sommerville scored his only second-half basket with eight seconds left to pull within 62-59. Bradley immediately fouled Daanish on the inbounds play and he missed both free throw attempts. With Bradley in search of a tying 3-pointer, the Sycamores intentionally fouled Crouch, who made the first free throw to pull the Braves within 62-60 with 2.4 seconds left. Crouch tried to miss the second shot with a high-arching attempt, but the ball still found the bottom of the basket, preventing the Braves from going for an offensive rebound and tying putback.
