PEORIA, Ill. - In a game that started Friday night and ended early Saturday morning, Memphis forward Parker Duncan spoiled Bradley's home opener by scoring the tying goal in the 87th minute and helping the Tigers (0-0-1) to a 1-1 draw in front of a Bradley home record 2,612 fans at Shea Stadium and a Fox Soccer Channel national television audience.

Bradley (1-0-1) managed only one shot on goal in the first half, but senior forward Chris Cutshaw made the most of it.  Sophomore Bryan Gaul played a laser from his left back position, springing Cutshaw on a breakaway through the middle of the Memphis zone.  Cutshaw, the Missouri Valley Conference active leader in goals scored, pushed his career total to 24 when he skated past sliding Memphis keeper Michael Goodlet and scored with a sliding shot inside the six-yard box just 9-minutes, 25-seconds into the game.

The Braves had two more great scoring opportunities in the first half.  In the 17th minute, Cutshaw again forced Goodlet to the ground, but this time his shot from a tough angle on the right side went into the side netting.  In the 43rd minute, Cutshaw found senior midfielder Grant Campbell slicing through the box, but Campbell's shot just missed the left post and rolled harmlessly over the endline.

And while the Braves managed only Cutshaw's shot on goal in the first period, Bradley keeper Drew Van Kampen did not need to make a save in the opening 45 minutes.  After managing only five non-threatening shots in the first half, Memphis turned up the pressure in the second half.  But the Tigers were unable to solve the Bradley defense until their final shot of the period.

Reserve Bradley Jacobs made the goal possible by holding off four Bradley defenders at the top of the box.  When he slipped the ball out of the crowd to the right flank, Ryan Ruble sent the ball into the front of the goal mouth, where Duncan re-directed it past Van Kampen for the equalizer with just 3-minutes, 4-seconds remaining in regulation.

With the game ticking past midnight, neither squad was able to mount much of an attack in the 20 minutes of extra time.  Memphis outshot Bradley, 2-1, in the two overtime periods and the Braves had the only shot on goal in overtime.

Sponsored by The Hotels at Grand Prairie, Friday's nationally-televised game was the highlight of the Busey Bank Kickoff Festival.  In the tournament opener, Eastern Illinois and Mercer played to a scoreless draw.  All four teams will be back in action Sunday at Shea Stadium:  Eastern Illinois will take on Memphis in a 1 p.m. game, while Bradley will host Mercer in a 7 o'clock affair.

The Bradley-Mercer game will pit the Braves against former associate head coach Brad Ruzzo and player Mike Haynes.  Now in his second season as the head coach at Mercer, Ruzzo served as an assistant at Bradley from 2000-07.  Haynes was a two-year starter between the pipes and was a senior on Bradley's 2007 MVC championship squad and NCAA Tournament Elite Eight qualifier.