PEORIA, Ill. - Northern Iowa sophomore guard Anthony James made his first six 3-point shots to highlight his career-high 25-point scoring effort, leading the Panthers (19-9, 10-6 MVC) to an 80-70 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball victory versus Bradley (9-18, 3-13 MVC) Tuesday night at Carver Arena.
Sparked by James' effort, UNI equaled its school-record by making 15 3-pointers in 31 tries from behind the arc, compared to a 3-for-17 (.176) effort from the hosts. The shooting effort helped UNI snap its season-long three-game losing streak and dampened Bradley's recent momentum after the Braves came into the game with wins in three of their last four games.
The Valley's leading scorer, Bradley senior guard Andrew Warren paced four Braves in double-figures with 20 points. Sophomore guard Dyricus Simms-Edwards added 15 points, six assists and three steals, while junior forward Will Egolf went 6-for-6 from the field to score 12 points and senior guard Dodie Dunson managed 11 points in 15 foul-plagued minutes.
In addition to James, UNI senior guard Kwadzo Ahelegbe pumped in 24 points for the Panthers and Marc Sonnen contributed 17 off the bench. James (6-7), Ahelegbe (3-6) and Sonnen (3-4) combined to make 12-of-17 3-point tries.
Bradley started hot and the Braves built a 10-point lead, 28-18, after Simms-Edwards sank two free throws with 7:01 left in the first half. After taking a 34-29 lead into halftime, Bradley built the advantage back up to seven points, 44-37, following a Simms-Edwards bucket in the paint with 14:41 left before the Panthers truly heated up from 3-point range.
UNI made its next five 3-point attempts and 7-of-8 overall from behind the arc during a 24-12 run capped by a Sonnen triple for a 61-56 Panthers lead with 5:47 left. From there, the Panthers closed the game out at the free throw line by making 17-of-18 free throw attempts in the final 5:01.
Bradley has three games remaining in the regular-season, beginning with a non-conference tilt at 2 p.m. Saturday in a game created through both teams' participation in the Sears BracketBusters event. The Braves will visit Interstate 74 rival Illinois State Feb. 22 and will host Drake Feb. 26 in the annual Senior Night game.
