PEORIA, Ill. ? Bradley sophomore guard Sam Maniscalco scored 11 points off the bench, six on a pair of momentum-changing 3-pointers at the end of the first half, and the Braves returned home from the only three-game conference road swing any team in the Missouri Valley Conference will face this season to down Indiana State 68-56 in front of 11,033 fans Saturday night at Carver Arena. Bradley (12-8, 6-3 MVC) remained in a tie with rival Illinois State for second place in The Valley standings heading into Wednesday night's home game versus Wichita State.
Bradley freshman guard Eddren McCain answered a three-pointer by Indiana State guard Jordan Printy with one of his own and keyed a 9-0 Braves burst a little more than halfway through the second stanza. McCain scored five of his game-high 14 points during that spurt, and senior forward Theron Wilson punctuated the run with a dunk after his career-best sixth steal. Guards Rashad Reed (12 points) and Henry Marshall (11 points) were the only players to score in double figures for the Sycamores.
With Bradley nursing a 26-24 lead following a Printy 3-pointers with 52 seconds left in the first half, the Braves called timeout and drew up a play to give Maniscalco a look at a 3-pointer. He drained the shot from the left wing with 22 seconds left, and after Reed missed an inside attept with six seconds left, Wilson snared the rebound and quickly hit Maniscalco with an outlet pass. The speedy guard sped up the right sideline and rattled home another trey at the buzzer to send the Braves into the break with a 32-24 advantage.
Bradley relied on its defense the rest of the way and eventually built a 19-point advantage, 63-44, with 4:26 left before the Sycamores narrowed the gap in the closing minutes. The Braves used 15 steals to force 22 Indiana State turnovers and outscored their visitors 24-14 in points off turnovers. Bradley also limited Indiana State to 40.0 percent (22-55) shooting from the field and offensively hit at better than 50 percent in both halves to finish at 56.8 percent (25-44) for the game. Bradley's guards were particularly efficient as the quartet of McCain (6-8), junior Dodie Dunson (4-5), freshman Darian Norris (3-4) and Maniscalco (4-8) were a combined 17-for-25 (.680) from field.
Bradley will wrap up its two-game homestand Wednesday by hosting Valley rival Wichita State in a 7:05 p.m. contest at Carver Arena. There is no local television scheduled for Wednesday's game and tickets are available ($8-20) in advance at the Shea Stadium Box Office, the Carver Arena Box Office and online at www.BradleyBraves.com.
