PEORIA, Ill. - Southern Illinois (9-2, 2-0 MVC) rallied from a 7-point deficit in the final 1-minute, 28-seconds to pull out a stunning 86-81 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball victory at Bradley (6-6, 1-1 MVC) Saturday night in front of 10,236 fans at Carver Arena. Sophomore guard Kevin Dillard started the rally with a 3-pointer and senior guard Tony Freeman buried a go-ahead trey with 27 seconds remaining to give the Salukis their first lead, 82-79, since they held an 8-6 advantage less than four minutes into the game.
Bradley shot 60.7 percent from the field in the first half and built its lead to as many as 15 points 47-32 with 2:31 left in the period before settling for a 49-36 advantage at halftime. The Braves still led 59-47 with 15:11 remaining, but allowed a double-digit, second-half lead to slip away in their third consecutive home loss.
Sophomore forward Taylor Brown led four Bradley players in double-figures with a career-high 25 points. Junior guard Andrew Warren added 24, while sophomore center Will Egolf turned in a pair of career-bests of 13 points and 10 rebounds for his first-ever double-double. Chris Roberts chipped in 10 points for the Braves. Freeman led the Salukis with 23 points, while Dillard turned in a double-double with 17 points and a career-best 12 assists. Justin Bocot added 16 points for the Salukis and forward Carlton Fay completed the double-digit scoring with 14 points.
Bradley point guard Sam Maniscalco found Egolf for an uncontested layup that gave the Braves a 79-72 advantage with 1:44 remaining. Following a Southern Illinois timeout, the Braves set up in a 1-3-1 zone defense that had confused the Salukis the only other possession they showed it earlier in the half. This time, Dillard sprang free for a wide open corner 3-pointer to pull within 79-75 with 1:28 left.
Bradley then committed turnovers on three consecutive possessions. Freeman made two free throws after the first turnover in the backcourt to pull within 79-77 with 1:10 left. While trying to protect the ball assuming he was going to be fouled, Maniscalco was whistled for a travel and Fay drained two more free throws with 52 seconds remaining to tie the score. Egolf and Warren mishandled an exchange at the top of the key on Bradley's next possession, setting up SIU's go-ahead possession, Freeman's 3-pointer from the left corner.
Maniscalco pulled the Braves to within 82-81 on a driving layup with 14 seconds left, but Bocot and Freeman combined to make all four of their free throw attempts in the closing seconds to seal the victory.
Bradley came into the game leading the Missouri Valley Conference in 3-point field goal percentage, allowing its first 11 opponents to shoot just 28.5 percent from behind the arc and none better than 40 percent, but the Salukis buried 10-of-21 (.476) 3-point attempts. Bradley had committed only nine turnovers in the game's first 37 minutes, before suffering four in the final 2-minutes, 20-seconds.
Both teams face immediate turnarounds: Bradley will visit Wichita State (12-2, 1-1 MVC) in a 2:05 p.m. showdown Sunday afternoon, while Southern Illinois will remain in Central Illinois for a 7:00 p.m. matchup at Illinois State (10-3, 1-1 MVC). Sunday's Bradley-Wichita State game will be televised in Central Illinois (Channel 74) and Chicago (102) by Comcast cable.
