ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The Missouri Valley Conference held its annual men's basketball media day Tuesday with Bradley junior guard Sam Maniscalco (Chicago, Ill./St. Patrick H.S.) earning honorable mention pre-season all-MVC honors. Maniscalco played in all 36 games for the Braves last season, including 32 starts. He averaged 12.6 points per game and dished out 110 assists. The Braves were picked sixth in the MVC men's basketball pre-season poll.
Including Maniscalco, Bradley returns four starters from a team that went 21-15 last year. Maniscalco is the team's top returning scorer, while Chris Roberts (Fort Worth, Texas/Navarro College/Dunbar H.S.) enters his senior campaign as the Braves' top returning rebounder (150 total, 4.2 per game). Bradley has won 21 games in four-straight seasons, the longest active streak of seasons with at least 21 wins in the MVC. The Braves have also been to four consecutive post-season tournaments, including a runner-up finish in the 2009 Collegeinsider.com Tournament.
Eighth-year head coach Jim Les and the Braves will tip-off the 2009-10 season at home Sunday, Nov. 8 with an exhibition game against Lewis at Carver Arena. The pre-season matchup will be broadcast live on 1470 WMBD at 2:05 p.m.
