PEORIA, Ill. - Freshman guard Walt Lemon Jr. (Chicago, Ill./Julian H.S.) led four Braves in double-figures by scoring a game-high 16 points as a short-handed Bradley squad opened its 107th men's basketball season with a 66-55 victory versus Texas A&M-Kingsville (0-1) in the first round of the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament Friday night at Carver Arena.
Lemon's 16 points were the most by a Bradley freshman in his debut game since Phillip Gilbert scored 22 in Bradley's 2000-01 season-opener at #23 Southern California. The 6-foot-3 guard made 5-of-9 field goal attempts and 6-of-9 from the free throw line for his 16 points, while sharing team-high honors with seven rebounds and tacking on a pair of steals.
Bradley (1-0) announced earlier in the day the Braves would be without junior forward Taylor Brown, a preseason honorable mention All-Missouri Valley Conference selection, for the entire season for precautionary medical reasons. The Braves also played Friday without sophomore guard Jake Eastman, due to a sprained ankle suffered earlier in the week.
The Braves did welcome back Dodie Dunson (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington H.S.), who missed the majority of the 2009-10 season with a broken arm, and the senior guard showed no signs of rust by making 6-of-8 field goal attempts en route to 14 points. Sophomore guard Dyricus Simms-Edwards (Washington, Ill./Washington H.S.) added 13 points and a game-high six assists and junior center Will Egolf (Juneau, Alaska/Douglas H.S.) chipped in with 12 points and seven boards.
Forward Wayne Lovings led Texas A&M-Kingsville with 15 points and a game-high eight rebounds, but reserve Antwan Mullins was the only other double-digit scorer for the Javelinas, finishing with 10 points.
Although Bradley took a lasting lead, 12-9, when Simms-Edwards drained a 3-pointer with 13:44 remaining in the first half, the Braves did not pull away until Lemon scored on back-to-back layups with eight minutes left in the game. With Bradley leading 49-43 with 8:34 left after a pair of Adam Morris free throws, Lemon sparked a 15-4 outburst that broke the game open. Simms-Edwards pushed the advantage to 64-47 by scoring an acrobatic, up-and-under layup with 3:18 left.
After allowing Quincy to shoot 41 free throws in last week's exhibition game at Renaissance Coliseum, the Braves committed just 13 fouls Friday, limiting TAMUK to a 4-for-5 effort from the stripe. Bradley also used 11 steals to force 19 Kingsville turnovers.
The Braves will continue their three-game, season-opening home stand by hosting in-state rival Northern Illinois in a 7:05 clash Tuesday night, then will resume tournament action the next night by hosting Loyola Marymount in a 7:35 p.m. start, both at Carver Arena.
