NORMAL, Ill. -- Fifth-year senior guard Danny Adams (Metamora, Ill./Metamora H.S.) scored all of his 14 points in the second half and Bradley (16-9, 7-6) completed a regular-season sweep of Interstate 74 rival Illinois State (12-12, 4-9) with its fifth consecutive win in the series, downing the host Redbirds 70-62 Saturday night at Redbird Arena.
Bradley center Zach Andrews (Rancho Cordova, Calif./Cordova H.S.) and senior guard Will Franklin (Houston, Texas/Alief Hastings H.S.) shared game-high scoring honors with 15 points. Illinois State reserve guard Dominitrix Johnson paced four Redbirds in double-figures with 14 points. Levi Dyer added 13 ponits, Boo Richardson chipped in with 12 and Greg Dilligard scored 11 points.
On a night that saw Illinois State name the Redbird Arena court for former ISU All-American Doug Collins, the Redbirds came out hot Saturday night and raced to a 10-0 lead in the game's first 2:15. The Braves got the offense going when Will Franklin scored Bradley's first basket with a second-chance 3-pointer with 16:44 left in the half.
After Bradley pulled to within 16-13, Johnson hit a 3-pointer to give the Redbirds a 19-13 advantage with 12:02 left in the first half. From there, the Braves turned to their defense, holding Illinois State to just two field goals the remainder of the half. Although Bradley shot just 37.1 percent from the floor in the first half, Bradley used seven offensive rebounds and a +6 turnover margin (8-2) to get off 17 more field goal attempts in the first 20 minutes. Illinois State finished the half only 8-of-18 from the floor and compounded its offensive struggles by missing 7-of-16 free throw attempts.
After pulling even four times, the Braves finally took their first lead, 29-28, when freshman Andrew Warren sank two free throws with 2:15 left in the half. Warren added a corner 3-pointer with 1:47 left in the half for a 32-28 lead.
Bradley extended its 36-32 halftime lead to seven points, 41-34, on an Andrews alley-oop dunk with 16:07 left in the game. Following an exchange of baskets, the teams then exchanged a pair of runs. Illinois State started with a 9-0 streak, capped by a Johnson jumper for a 45-43 lead with 12:23 left. The Braves countered with a 10-2 streak to take the lead for good. Andrews and Matt Salley started the run with consecutive layups before Adams sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a Dyer free throw. After Anthony Slack made one more free throw for the Redbirds, Salley finished off the surge with another layup for a 55-47 lead with 8:42 left.
While Illinois State hung close, Adams delivered the dagger by hitting a deep, rainbow 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock for a 63-55 lead with 3:10 left. Adams, who made 4-of-6 attempts from long range, then gave the Braves their first double-digit lead on a fluke play with 1:39 remaining. Ruffin tried to throw a lob to Andrews, but the pass was short and deflected by Slack. When Slack and Andrews both went to the floor, the ball popped out to Adams on the wing and he went in for an uncontested layup.
The Braves have won consecutive games at Redbird Arena for the first time in the building's history and the first time in Normal since a 3-game streak from 1986 through 1988. Bradley's five-game series winning streak is the longest since a six-game run from 1985 through 1987 and the Braves now have won eight of the last 10 against their arch rivals.
With its third Missouri Valley Conference road win secured, Bradley will venture to the league's toughest home court Wednesday when the Braves visit Valley co-leader Southern Illinois. Bradley will try to complete its second straight Valley sweep, as the Braves downed the Salukis, 48-46, Jan. 10 at Carver Arena on Will Franklin's buzzer-beating bank shot. Wednesday's 7:35 p.m. game will be televised live on Fox Sports Midwest.
