PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley senior forward Marcellus Sommerville (Peoria, Ill./Central H.S.) scored a career-best 30 points in his final regular-season game at Carver Arena, leading the Braves (18-9, 11-7) to an 86-66 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball victory versus Drake (12-18, 5-13) in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Bradley, which has won five straight and nine of its last 11, parlayed its strong finish into a tie for fifth in the final Valley standings. The Braves, who swept #25 UNI during the regular season, earned the No. 5 seed for next week's State Farm MVC Tournament over the Panthers (22-8, 11-7) and will play fourth-seeded Creighton (19-8, 12-6) in Friday's 2:30 p.m. quarterfinal game at the Savvis Center in St. Louis.
Sommerville set the tone for Saturday's finale, scoring 10 points in a 13-0 Bradley burst to start the game. Bradley continued to pour it on out of the gate, leading 21-2 on a Tony Bennett 3-pointer with 13:55 left. The Braves pushed the lead to 30 points, 45-15, on a Zach Andrews alley-oop slam with 2:46 left in the half, then went to the break with a 51-20 lead after Danny Adams drained a 3-pointer with four seconds remaining.
Led by Sommerville's 8-for-8 performance, Bradley shot 67.7 percent (21-31) from the field in the first half. The Braves also got the offensive rebound on six of their 10 misses, highlighting a 20-7 rebound advantage at the break. Nine of the 10 players to see the floor in the first half scored, while Drake's leading scorer at the break was reserve Nick Grant with five points.
Sommerville finished the night 11-for-13 from the field and tacked on seven rebounds to share game-high honors with sophomore center Patrick O'Bryant. Bennett added 14 points in his final home game and senior forward Lawrence Wright tacked on 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Fifth-year senior center Brandyn Heemskerk also scored four points and Adams, a fourth-year junior who will graduate in May, finished with three points on his half-ending trey.
Led by Sommerville (11-13) and O'Bryant (4-4), Bradley shot a season-best 60.7 percent from the field. The Braves drained 8-of-16 attempts from 3-point land, as well as 10-of-11 (.909) free throw attempts.
The five-game winning streak is Bradley's longest of the season and will be the team's longest heading into the MVC Tournament since a seven-game streak to end the 1996-97 regular-season.
