SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Bradley senior forward Marcellus Sommerville led the Braves with 22 points and eight rebounds off the bench, but it was not enough to prevent host Missouri State (15-6, 8-5) from earning a 70-62 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball victory Saturday night at the Hammons Student Center.
Missouri State guard Blake Ahearn scored a game-high 25 points, including a perfect 12-for-12 effort from the free throw line, as the Bears snapped Bradley's four-game game winning streak by avenging an 86-76 loss to the Braves (13-8, 7-6) Jan. 25 at Carver Arena. Missouri State guard Deke Thompson was the game's only other double-digit scorer, finishing with 13 points, while MSU center Sky Frazier pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.
Bradley started the game ice cold from the field and did not convert a field goal until Daniel Ruffin drained a 3-pointer with 14:31 left in the half. Bradley missed its first six field goal attempts, as well as nine of its first 10. Lawrence Wright made Bradley's second basket with 10:38 left in the half and the Braves did not score again until Will Franklin's jumper with 8:51 left in the half cut Missouri State's 15-point lead to 23-10.
After Tyler Chaney's jumper pushed the deficit back to 15 points, Bradley heated up for the rest of the half and went into the break down just 31-27. Sommerville started Bradley's half-ending push with an interior basket with 7:33 left, the scored the period's final basket with 38 seconds remaining.
Sommerville scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half, including Bradley's first eight points after the intermission to close the gap to 36-35. Franklin gave the Braves their first lead, 37-36, with a transition backet after his steal at midcourt, but Bradley was not able to maintain its momentum.
Dale Lamberth gave Missouri State the lead for good, 40-38, with 13:03 left. After the Bears extended their lead to six, consecutive baskets by Bennett (3-pointer) and Sommerville got the Braves back to within one, 47-46, with 8:33 left.
In a game of mini-runs, the complexion turned when Franklin was fouled Blake Ahearn with 5:03 remaining and then was whistled for a technical foul for reacting to the call. Ahearn, the most accurate free throw shooter in the history of college basketball, sank all four free throws to extend MSU's lead to 58-49. Bradley got no closer than five points the rest of the way.
Beginning one possession earlier when Tyler Chaney made the second free throw in a 2-shot trip, Missouri State sank 15 of its final 17 free throw attempts down the stretch. The Bears scored only one field goal in the game's final 7:20, a Thompson transition layup for the game's final points with 29 seconds left.
While Bradley could not overcome Missouri State's 25-11 scoring advantage at the free throw line, the game's most-telling stats involved rebounding. The Bears outrebounded Bradley 47-30. Missouri State's 34 defensive rebounds were four more than Bradley's totals and the Bears also limited the visitors to just seven offensive rebounds.
