PEORIA, Ill. - The Bradley trio of senior forward Taylor Brown (21 points), junior guard Dyricus Simms-Edwards (19) and sophomore guard Walt Lemon, Jr. (17) combined for 57 points, leading the Braves to an 81-71 exhibition victory versus NCAA Division III The College of Wooster Tuesday night at Carver Arena.
Bradley completed its preseason with a pair of 10-point victories and will open the 2011-12 regular season Sunday (4 p.m.) by hosting UMKC in the first round of the Chicago Invitational Challenge at Carver Arena.
Jake Mays came off the bench to lead the Fighting Scots with 16 points, before fouling out with 44.6 seconds remaining. Guard Xavier Brown added 15 points, center Josh Claytor scored 12 and forward Justin Hallowell pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds for Wooster.
Bradley was playing without sophomore starting center Jordan Prosser, who had a wisdom tooth removed Monday. Lemon (seven rebounds) and Simms-Edwards (six) helped led the Braves on the boards in Prosser's absence. The duo also combined for five assists and three steals.
Wooster averaged just 12.1 turnovers per game last season, but the Braves forced their visitors into 20 miscues Tuesday night. Bradley converted with 20 points off turnovers and finished with a 19-9 advantage in transition points.
Despite the advantages, Bradley did not put the game away until an 13-2 run stretched a 55-51 lead to 68-53 with 6:33 remaining. Senior center Anthony Thompson started the surge with an old-fashioned 3-point play and Simms-Edwards finished off the run with a jumper in the paint and a one-handed slam from the wing. Bradley's advantage did not dip below nine points the rest of the way.
Though Bradley shot just 61.3 percent (19-31) from the free throw line for the game, Brown (5-6) and Simms-Edwards (1-2) combined to make 6-of-8 from the stripe in the final 3:28 to keep the Fighting Scots at bay.
In addition to Prosser, Bradley was without junior forward Milos Knezevic, who was home in Las Vegas for an exam involving the pursuit of U.S. citizenship. Both Prosser and Knezevic are expected to be available for Sunday's season-opener.
