PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley senior guard Jeremy Crouch reached 20 points for the sixth time in his last seven games and sparked the Braves (18-15) to their sixth consecutive victory against a Big East member school, a 70-67 win against Cincinnati (13-19) in the first round of the inaugural College Basketball Invitational Wednesday night at Carver Arena.
The Missouri Valley Conference leader in 3-point field goals made this season, Crouch's first trey of the night with 13:57 left in the game broke a 37-37 tie and gave the Braves the lead for good. He assisted Andrew Warren's driving layup on Bradley's next possession, then buried his second 3-pointer with 12:48 left for a 45-39 lead.
Harrassed on the perimeter for most of the night, Bradley got another 3-pointer from Warren with 11:56 left for a 48-41 lead and when freshman guard Sam Maniscalco canned a triple with 5:40 remaining, the Braves grabbed a game-high 12-point lead, 59-47.
Cincinnati guard Jamual Warren scored five straight to trigger a 13-5 run that pulled the Bearcats to within 64-60 with 1:16 left, but Bradley's Warren (1-2), point guard Daniel Ruffin (2-2) and forward Theron Wilson (2-2) combined to make 6-of-7 free throws in the final 54 seconds to maintain the lead. Jamual Warren's 3-pointer with eight seconds left made it a one-possession game, but the Braves were able to dribble out the remaining time to secure the win.
Crouch finished the night with 20 points, three steals, two assists and one rebound, leaving him just one assist shy of joining Hersey Hawkins as the only players in school history to achieve 500 points (516), 100 rebounds (120), 100 assists (99) and 50 steals (52) in a single season. Wilson was Bradley's only other double-digit scorer with 15 points, while senior center Matt Salley contributed seven points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Deonta Vaughn led three Bearcats in double-figures with a game-high 23 points. John Williamson added 14 points and Jamual Warren chipped in with 13. Reserve forward Marcus Sikes paced Cincinnati with eight rebounds, helping the Bearcats to a 37-21 rebound advantage.
Bradley entered the postseason averaging 9.2 3-pointers per game, but the Braves managed just 6-for-17 (.353) shooting from behind the arc, while the Bearcats hit 9-of-21 (.429) 3-point attempts. Bradley made up from its cold night from long range by sinking 26-of-31 free throw attempts. The Braves also forced Cincinnati into 20 turnovers, helping Bradley to a 23-9 advantage in points off turnovers.
Now with a postseason victory against the Big East in each of the last three years -- 2006 NCAA Tournament second round versus Pittsburgh (72-66) and 2007 MasterCard NIT first round against Providence (90-78 in OT) -- Bradley will host Ohio in a CBI second-round game Monday night at Carver Arena. The start time and potential television coverage on Fox College Sports will be announced Thursday. The Bobcats improved to 20-12 on the year with an 80-74 home victory versus Brown Monday night.
Tickets for Monday's second-round game again will range from $9-30 based on location. Bradley season-ticket holders may purchase their seats in person at the Robertson Memorial Fieldhouse Box Office Thursday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The general public may begin to purchase tickets online -- www.BradleyBraves.com -- Friday at 5 p.m. The Fieldhouse Box Office also will be open from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday. Both the Fieldhouse Box Office and Carver Arena Box Office will be open for CBI ticket sales beginning at 9 a.m. Monday. Bradley University students may begin purchasing tickets for $1 at the Robertson Fieldhouse Box Office Thursday.
