SPRINGFIELD, Mo. ? Junior swingman Chris Roberts scored a game-high 22 points and led another strong defensive effort by Bradley (9-5, 3-0 MVC), leading the visiting Braves to a 63-57 Missouri Valley Conference win at Missouri State (7-7, 0-3 MVC) Saturday night at JQH Arena.
Bradley's fourth consecutive victory snapped a six-year road skid against the Bears and marked just its fourth road win in 18 tries in the series since Missouri State joined The Valley for the 1990-91 season. The win also set up a collision course with Interstate 74 rival Illinois State (14-0, 3-0 MVC), which will invade Carver Arena Tuesday night (7:05 p.m.) for an early clash of Valley co-leaders.
In addition to draining 8-of-11 field goal attempts, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range, and 4-of-5 free throw attempts for Bradley's best individual scoring output of the season, Roberts was active on the defensive end. He accounted for 12 of Bradley's 28 deflections, including season-highs of four blocked shots and three steals. Senior forward Theron Wilson continued his parade to the free throw line this season, drawing 11 of the 24 fouls against Missouri State, and he made 8-of-13 free throw attempts to highlight his 12-point scoring effort. Wilson now has scored at least 12 points in 12 consecutive games. No other Bradley player scored better than six points.
Missouri State forward Will Creekmore and guard Spencer Laurie each scored 17 points to pace the Bears, while guard Justin Fuehrmeyer turned in seven points as the next-highest scorer for the hosts.
Aided by a 3-for-20 (.150) effort to start the game, Missouri State shot just 29.7 percent for the field for the game, marking the first time a Bradley opponent shot less than 30 percent from the field since Southern Mississippi shot 29.8 percent Dec. 21, 2005 in Hattiesburg. The Bears were able to stay in the game, however, by working the offensive glass as Missouri State collected 25 offensive rebounds. Despite their work on the boards, though, the Bears only outscored Bradley 18-14 in second-chance points.
Center David Collins scored the first basket of the game, ironically after rebounding his own miss, to give the Braves a 2-0 lead on their first possession and Bradley steadily built its advantage to as many as 14 points, 27-13, on a Roberts transition dunk with 6:17 left in the half. On Missouri State's next possession, a Fuehrmeyer missed shot went out of bounds off the Braves and Laurie drained a 3-pointer on the ensuing inbounds play to launch the Bears on an 11-6 mini-run to end the half. The Braves were called for goaltending on Creekmore's layup attempt at the buzzer after he caught a length-of-the-court pass with 2 seconds remaining and had to settle for a 33-24 lead at the break.
The teams exchanged 2-point baskets for the first six minutes of the second half until Laurie's 3-pointer pulled the Bears to within 39-37 with 13:32 remaining. Bradley freshman Darian Norris answered with a triple of his own and the Braves eventually built their lead back to six points, 45-39, when Roberts canned a trey with 10:10 remaining.
Creekmore scored consecutive interior baskets to trigger a 9-2 Missouri State surge that gave the Bears their first lead, 48-47, on a Cardell McFarland driving layup with 8:14 left. The lead then changed hands five times before the Braves grabbed control in the final two minutes at the free throw line. Wilson gave Bradley a lasting lead, 58-57, by draining two free throws with 1:41 left. After a Roberts steal gave the ball back to Bradley, Wilson made 1-of-2 for a 59-57 lead with 1:00 remaining. The Braves then kept the Bears off the offensive glass on the next two possessions and scored the game's final points on two free throws each by Sam Maniscalco with 35 seconds to go and Eddren McCain with 20 seconds left.
Only a handful of upper bowl tickets ($8) remain for the season's first installment of the Interstate 74 rivalry Tuesday night when Bradley hosts Illinois State. The teams will enter the clash as the league's co-leaders, both sporting 3-0 Valley records. Bradley has started 3-0 in the league for the first time since the 1995-96 Valley regular-season championship season and the Braves have not opened 4-0 since the 1993-94 campaign.
