EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Senior guard Will Franklin (Houston, Texas/Alief Hastings H.S.) made 1-of-2 free throws with 1.4 seconds remaining and the visiting Braves (18-10, 9-7) knocked away a full-court pass to end the game to close out a 72-71 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball victory at Evansville (13-14, 6-10) Wednesday night at Roberts Stadium.
For the second year in a row, Bradley ruined the home team's Senior Night festivities, this time with solid performances from its own senior class. Franklin was one of three Bradley seniors and five Braves overall to score in double-figures, finishing with 12 points and five assists. Senior center Zach Andrews added 10 points and reserve senior guard Danny Adams drained 4-of-5 3-point tries in a 12-point performance, while another senior guard, J.J. Tauai, chipped in with a solid all-around game, finishing with eight points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. In addition, junior guard Jeremy Crouch and Daniel Ruffin added 15 and 13 points, respectively.
Evansville senior forward Matt Webster scored a game-high 19 points, highlighted by 11-of-17 shooting from the free throw line and a long 3-pointer with 7 seconds remaining to forge a 71-71 tie. Aces senior center Bradley Strickland and senior guard Kyle Anslinger both added 15 points in the final game at Roberts Stadium.
Sparked by a 4-for-4 effort off the bench by Adams, the Braves drained 10-of-17 (.588) 3-point attempts in the first half en route to a 42-27 lead at the break. The Braves increased the lead to as many as 16 points on three occassions in the second half, the last when Ruffin converted a back-door layup for a 49-33 advantage with 16:17 left.
It appeared the Braves had turned back Evansville's attempt at a comeback when the visitors answered an 11-3 Aces run with a lightning-fast 8-0 outburst that turned a 52-45 advantage with 10:49 left into a 60-45 lead with 9:41 to go. Andrews started the run with an inside basket and Franklin and Crouch followed with 3-pointers from the opposite corners.
The Purple Aces were not done, however, and five straight points from Strickland started a 19-4 Evansville run that eventually forced a 64-64 tie with 3:29 left. Although Evansville pulled even on two more occassions, the Braves never let the Aces take the lead down the stretch. Crouch buried a tough 3-pointer coming out of a timeout for a 67-64 lead with 3:15 left and Ruffin hit 3-of-4 free throw attempts with less than a minute left after a 68-68 tie.
By sweeping the regular-season series against Evansville for the second consecutive season, Bradley earned its fourth Valley road win of the season for the first time since 1997-98. The Braves now will turn their focus to the O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters and Saturday's 7:05 p.m. (CST) matchup at VCU, which will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
Following the final non-conference game of the year, Bradley will close the regular-season with back-to-back home games, Tuesday against UNI and next Saturday against Indiana State. Fans may purchase half-priced tickets ($4-$$6-$9) in the upper bowl for Tuesday's game against the Panthers and the first 5,000 fans wearing red will receive a mini-megaphone for the Senior Night game versus Indiana State.
