NORMAL, Ill. -- Bradley sophomore center Patrick O'Bryant (Blaine, Minn./Blaine H.S.) scored a career-best 23 points in a double-double effort and senior forward Marcellus Sommerville added a double-double of his own with 18 points and 11 rebounds, leading Bradley (14-9, 8-7) to a 71-59 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball victory at Illinois State (8-15, 3-12) Saturday evening at Redbird Arena.
After winning the season's first meeting, 73-44, Feb. 1 at Carver Arena, Saturday's 12-point margin of victory was the widest-ever for the Braves at Redbird Arena and the largest road victory margin in the series for Bradley since a 42-26 win March 3, 1928. Coupled with a 57-54 win Jan. 31, 2004 on Illinois State's home floor, the Braves quartet of Danny Adams, Brandyn Heemskerk, Sommerville and J.J. Tauai became the first-ever group of Bradley players to win two games at Redbird Arena. Bradley improved to 14-4 all-time at Redbird Arena by downing the Redbirds for the third straight game and the sixth time in the last seven regular-season meetings.
O'Bryant did the majority of his damage in the first half, putting up 17 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots in the first 20 minutes. He scored 10 points in the game's first 5:07, helping the Braves to a quick 16-5 lead. Riding the hot 3-point shooting of sophomore center Levi Dyer, however, Illinois State steadily worked its way back into the game. Dyer, who entered the game averaging only 3.0 points per game, drained four 3-pointers in the first half, the last one with 3:32 left in the period to give the Redbirds their largest lead of the game, 33-27.
Dyer finished the game with five 3-pointers, pacing four Redbirds in double-figures with a career-best 16 points. Greg Dilligard added 14 points, Neil Plank scored 13 and reserve guard Roberto Fortes chipped in with 11 points. O'Bryant led all players with his 23 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots. In addition to Sommerville, point guard Daniel Ruffin added 16 points, five assists and five steals.
While O'Bryant dominated the early part of the game, Sommerville and Ruffin took over in the second half for Bradley. Held to three points and two rebounds in the first half, Sommerville pumped in 16 points and pulled down nine rebounds after the break. Ruffin dished out all five of his assists in the second half.
After Illinois State took a 36-33 lead into halftime, Sommerville's 3-pointer with 16:56 left pulled the Braves back even, 38-38. He added his third 3-pointer of the night with 10:17 left for a 48-44 lead, then countered an old-fashioned 3-point play by Fortes with one of his own for a 51-47 lead with 9:28 left. That exchange ignited an 8-0 Bradley run, which also included a Will Franklin trey and an O'Bryant basket, that gave the Braves the necessary cushion they needed to close out the game.
Illinois State closed to 56-52 on Dyer's fifth triple with 6:31 left, but Sommerville sank four free throws on Bradley's next two possessions and Tony Bennet completed the quick 6-0 burst with a transition layup for a 62-52 lead wtih 4:29 left.
The Braves improved to 4-8 on the road this season, the most road wins for Bradley since the 1997-98 squad went 4-9 on their opponents' home floors. Bradley will close out the regular-season by playing three of its last four games at Carver Arena, beginning Tuesday night versus Southern Illinois at 7:35 p.m.
