PEORIA, Ill. – The Bradley men's basketball team saluted one of its all-time greats in a rare game on campus, dumping Texas-Pan American, 78-61, Monday night at Renaissance Coliseum.
Former Braves star and 15-year pro basketball veteran Anthony Parker was inducted into the Bradley Athletics Hall of Fame at halftime and received a late-game salute from point guard Walt Lemon, Jr., who capped his 14-point performance with a steal and breakaway slam to put the finishing touches on the third regular-season men's basketball game played on campus since the 1981-82 season.
Lemon finished the night with 14 points, six assists and three steals, while sixth-year senior center Will Egolf continued to show off his new-found, long-range touch by draining all three of his 3-point field goal attempts in a 14-point performance of his own. Senior guard Dyricus Simms-Edwards turned in a solid all-around game with 11 points, a game-high seven rebounds, four assists and four steals and senior forward Jake Eastman chipped in with 10 points.
UTPA guards Brandon Provost and Aaron Urbanus both scored 14 points to pace the Broncs.
Bradley (2-0) never trailed and took the lead for good, 14-12, on two Jalen Crawford free throws with 13:31 left in the first half. Bradley led just 21-20 after UTPA's DeMarko Nash scored with 5:57 left in the half, but Shayok Shayok's off-balanced jumper in the lane started a 16-4 Bradley run to close the half and the advantage never dipped below 11 points in the second half.
Despite foul trouble that plagued Egolf and fellow starting post player Tyshon Pickett, the Braves outscored UTPA 38-10 in the paint. Reserve center Jordan Prosser (9 points, 8 rebounds) and Shayok (7, 3) combined for 16 points and 11 rebounds to help the paint effort.
Bradley also handled UTPA's full-court press, finishing the game with a 22-9 assists-to-turnover ratio and outscoring the Broncs, 26-7, in points off turnovers.
Bradley will hit the road for the first time this season Saturday when the Braves visit IUPUI in a 6 p.m. (CT) game that will be televised on Comcast SportsNet Chicago. The Braves will be trying to start 3-0 for a third consecutive season, but will need to snap an 11-game road slide to continue their undefeated start.
