MARTIN, Tenn. - Bradley freshman guard Walt Lemon Jr. scored a career-best 20 points and freshman center Jordan Prosser turned in his first career double-double by coupling a game-high 10 rebounds with his 11 points, leading the short-handed Braves (10-18) to an 81-75 victory at UT-Martin (10-19) Saturday afternoon in a non-conference game created through the Sears BracketBusters event.
Already without preseason All-Missouri Valley Conference picks Taylor Brown and Sam Maniscalco, Bradley played Saturday's game without senior guard Dodie Dunson. The team's second-leading scorer was sidelined with a knee injury sustained in practice Thursday and his status for Tuesday's game at Interstate 74 Rival Illinois State is unknown.
Lemon Jr. was up to the challenge, though, becoming the fourth Brave to score at least 20 points this season by making 8-of-11 field goal attempts, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Senior guard Andrew Warren, The Valley's leading scorer, added 16 points and put the game away by making four free throws in the final 15 seconds, and sophomore guard Dyricus Simms-Edwards chipped in with 15 points, five assists and two blocked shots.
Skyhawks forward Troy King scored 17 of his team-high 20 points in the first half and led five UT-Martin players in double-figures. Terence Smith scored 15, Reuben Clayton added 14 and Mike Liabo and Benzor Simmons both scored 10.
Boosted by King's 5-for-6 effort, UT-Martin made 9-of-14 (.643) 3-point field goal attempts in the first half en route to a 44-39 halftime lead. Bradley countered by scoring inside, however, as the Braves made 16-of-30 (.533) overall from the field in the first half with a 24-10 scoring advantage in the paint. The Skyhawks made only 2-of-9 (.222) 3-point tries in the second half, however, while Bradley continued to score with efficiency after the break. The Braves ended the game shooting 53.6 percent (30-56) overall from the field to score its season-best 81 points.
Despite the hot shooting, Bradley faced a game-high eight-point deficit, 64-58, when Clayton scored in transition with 10:40 remaining. The Skyhawks managed only four more baskets the rest of the game, though.
Sophomore forward Jake Eastman scored two straight interior buckets to launch an 8-0 Bradley run and the Braves pulled even, 64-64, on a Warren putback basket with 7:44 left.
After a pair of exchanges, Eastman gave the Braves their first lead since 5:32 was left in the first half, when he scored in transition for a 69-68 advantage with 4:09 left. Lemon Jr., Warren and Prosser each followed with buckets to cap an 8-1 Bradley run that gave the Braves a 75-69 lead with 1:50 remaining.
Bradley will close out the regular-season with two games next week, beginning with the return game in the Interstate 74 Rivalry against Illinois State Tuesday night at Redbird Arena. The 7:05 p.m. contest will be televised on the MVC-TV Network. The Braves will host Drake in a 7:05 p.m. game Saturday at Carver Arena in the annual Senior Night game. Dunson and Warren will be honored in a pregame ceremony and will address the crowd after the game. The annual Braves Club Raffle drawing also will be held Saturday night.
