PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley sophomore center Patrick O'Bryant led five Braves in double-figures with 18 points off the bench and fellow reserve Lawrence Wright added a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds as Bradley (10-7, 4-5) rode a strong second half performance to an 85-63 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball victory versus Indiana State (9-8, 1-8) in front of 10,240 fans Saturday night at Carver Arena.
After the Sycamores took a 40-35 lead into halftime, Bradley held the visitors to 6-for-22 (.273) shooting and seven total rebounds in the second half. Meanwhile, the Braves shot 67.9 percent (19-28) after the break and grabbed 22 rebounds, including offensive boards on six of the nine missed field goals and one on a missed free throw attempt.
Bradley senior forward Marcellus Sommerville broke out of his recent shooting slump by scoring 17 points. Senior guard Tony Bennett also scored 17 points and junior forward Zach Andrews added 10 points and nine rebounds for the Braves. Indiana State center Jay Tunnell tripled his 3-point field goal production for the season by draining 4-of-9 attempts from behind the arc as part of an 18-point performance. In his first game of the season, junior guard Eric Gray scored nine of his 10 points in the first half for the Sycamores.
Indiana State made 10 3-point field goals, the most against the Braves this season, but the Braves countered the long-range barrage from the Sycamores by pounding the ball inside. Bradley's post quartet of O'Bryant (7-10), Wright (6-8), Sommerville (7-12) and Andrews (5-9) combined to shoot 25-for-39 (.641) from the floor as the Braves outscored Indiana State 52-12 in the paint.
Bradley wasted little time taking control of the game in the second half. After allowing Indiana State to take a 43-37 lead on Tunnell's fourth 3-pointer with 18:56 left, Bennett immediately scored in transition to ignite a 27-11 Bradley surge. The Braves took the lead for good, 52-49, on a Daniel Ruffin 3-pointer with 14:07 left and stretched the lead to double-digits, 64-54, on a Sommerville hook with 9:24 left.
Bradley will return to action Wednesday by hosting Missouri State in a 7:05 p.m. Valley contest at Carver Arena.
