PEORIA, Ill. - Sophomore guard Walt Lemon, Jr. came off the bench to score a career-best 26 points, leading Bradley (7-19, 2-12 MVC) to a 68-60 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball victory versus visiting Indiana State (14-11, 5-9 MVC) Wednesday night at Carver Arena.
Lemon sank 15-of-16 free throws, including 10-for-10 in the final 3:59 to fend off the Sycamores, as Bradley snapped a 6-game losing streak.
Indiana State missed its first five field goal attempts as Bradley scored the game's first five points and never looked back. With the Sycamores shooting just 27.6 percent (8-29) from the field in the first half, Bradley took a 26-17 lead at the break, matching its largest halftime lead of the season.
Freshman guard Jalen Crawford, who made his first career start, drained the first of his three second-half 3-pointers to open the second-half scoring, giving the Braves their first double-digit lead of the game, 29-17. After Indiana State used a 7-0 run to pull within 29-24, Crawford sank treys on consecutive possessions to quickly push the advantage to 35-24 with 13:33 left.
Bradley eventually built a game-high, 16-point cushion, 46-30, when Jordan Prosser scored inside with 6:27 remaining, but the Braves did not put the game away until Lemon got a breakaway layup with 22 seconds left for a 67-58 margin.
Indiana State point guard Jake Odum posted a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while backcourt mate Dwayne Lathan scored a team-high 16 points. R.J. Mahurin added 10 points off the ISU bench. Prosser was Bradley's only other double-digit scorer, finishing with 11 points and a team-best nine rebounds.
Bradley dished out 13 assists on its 19 baskets and ended the night with as many blocked shots (7) as turnovers.
The Braves will return to action Sunday afternoon when they visit Missouri State in a 2:05 p.m. contest from JQH Arena. Both Sunday's game, as well as the next home game Wednesday night versus Drake, will be televised on the MVC-TV Network (FS Midwest, Comcast SportsNet Chicago, FS Kansas City, FS Indiana, Fox College Sports and ESPN3).
