PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley hit its first five 3-point field goal attempts en route to a 17-2 lead to start the game and the Braves (4-2) rode the hot start to their 15th consecutive November home win, an 82-69 victory against East Tennessee State (3-3) Saturday night at Carver Arena. Playing its fourth game in six days, Bradley extended its winning streak to three games with its season-best scoring output.
Junior guard Dodie Dunson led four Braves in double figures with 17 points. Junior swingman Chris Roberts added a season-best 16 points, senior forward Theron Wilson added 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds and freshman guard Eddren McCain hit double-figures for the first time with 10 points. East Tennessee State guard Courtny Pigram scored a game-high 27 points, but forward Kevin Tiggs was the only other Bucs player to reach double-figures, chipping in 15 points.
After cruising to a 44-25 lead at halftime, Bradley twice built its lead to as many as 24 points in the second half, but with the Braves leading 64-42 the game took a sour turn for Bradley. Sophomore center Will Egolf, who had made his third career start and had scored six points in a career-high 20 minutes, injured his right knee after catching the ball on the baseline and spinning toward the basket with 10:02 remaining. Egolf was helped to the lockerroom by two teammates and is scheduled to have an MRI exam on the injured knee Sunday.
East Tennessee State took advantage of the emotional swing and cut its deficit to single digits, 75-66, on a Tommy Hubbard basket in the paint with 2:21 remaining. Dunson answered with an old-fashioned 3-point play with 1:58 remaining, but after Pigram brought the Bucs back to within nine, 78-68, with a 3-pointer with 1:42 left, Sam Maniscalco sank two free throws and Wilson threw down a dunk to close out the scoring.
Ranked among the nation's top 3-point shooting teams each of the last two seasons, the Braves had gotten off to a cold start from behind the arc this season and entered Saturday's game without making more than seven treys in a game and shooting just 26.5 percent from behind the arc. Sparked by Dunson's 4-for-6 effort from long range in the first half, Bradley made 8-of-13 (.615) 3-point tries in the first 20 minutes. The Braves finished the game 13-for-24 (.542) from behind the arc, equalling the eighth-best single-game total in program history.
And while Bradley was firing away early, the Braves also limited ETSU to just 9-for-27 (.333) shooting from the field in the first half and a 6-for-24 (.250) effort from 3-point range for the game.
The Braves will have a full week to prepare for their next game, a Dec. 7 clash at #5 Michigan State. The 3 p.m. contest will be televised by the Big Ten Network. Bradley will return home Dec. 10 to host Butler in a 7:05 p.m. contest at Carver Arena that will be televised locally by Comcast (Comcast 74 and Mediacom 78 in Central Illinois). Both Michigan State (Sweet 16) and Butler (second round) played in the 2008 NCAA Tournament.
