CARBONDALE, Ill. - Bradley senior guard Andrew Warren scored a game-high 23 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 15.9 seconds remaining and two free throws with 3.6 seconds left, lifting the Braves (8-16, 2-11 MVC) to their second consecutive victory, 69-66, at Southern Illinois (10-14, 4-9 MVC) Saturday afternoon.
The win was Bradley's second straight at SIU Arena and gave the road team a fourth consecutive win for the first time in series history. Southern Illinois, which played without suspended starters Gene Teague and Mykel Cleveland, suffered its fifth consecutive loss overall and its third straight defeat at SIU Arena.
Sophomore guard Dyricus Simms-Edwards supported Warren's effort with 18 points, while dishing out six assists against no turnovers. Senior guard Dodie Dunson completed Bradley's double-digit scoring efforts with 10 points, while freshman center Jake Eastman equaled his career-best with a game-high 10 rebounds.
Forward Carlton Fay and guard Kendal Brown-Surles shared SIU team-high scoring honors with 18 points, each, and forward Mamadou Seck had 13 points and a team-best eight rebounds for the Salukis.
Paced by Warren's 12 points, Bradley took a 35-29 lead into halftime by shooting 51.9 percent (14-27) from the field. After shooting just 36.7 percent (11-30) from the floor in the opening frame, Southern Illinois started fast in the second half, scoring the first seven points for the first of five second-half lead changes.
The Salukis eventually built their lead to six points, 55-49, on two Seck free throws with 10:16 left, but the Salukis could not gain any more separation. Warren capped a 9-3 Bradley surge to pull the Braves even, 58-58, by burying a deep jumper with 5:05 left, and forward Will Egolf completed an old-fashioned 3-point play to give the Braves a 61-60 lead with 4:30 remaining.
Seck countered with back-to-back baskets and the Salukis again led by three, 66-63, when Brown-Surles made two free throws with 2:13 left. With the score unchanged, Bradley forced the hosts into a shot-clock violation with 1:25 left and got one point at the other end when Egolf split two free throws with 1:04 left.
Dunson rebounded a Fay miss on the next SIU possession, and after a Bradley timeout, Simms-Edwards sucked the Saluki defense into the lane with penetration, then kicked the ball out to the right wing, where Warren buried his only 3-pointer of the day.
Seck was able to draw a blocking foul on Jake Eastman with 7.1 seconds left, but when he missed the front end of a 1-and-1, Warren grabbed the rebound, forcing the Salukis to foul. The league's leading free throw shooter knocked in both ends of his 1-and-1 trip to the line with 3.6 seconds left to close out the scoring.
Outrebounded 20-15 in the first half while giving up nine offensive boards, Bradley finished the game with a 34-33 advantage on the glass and limited the Salukis to two second-chance opportunities in the second half. The teams combined for just 16 turnovers and Bradley's nine miscues marked the third consecutive game with less than 10 turnovers for the Braves.
