PEORIA, Ill. - Bradley (1-2) used a balanced attack for its first win of the season, holding off North Carolina A&T (1-3) for a 58-50 decision in the opening round of the Corpus Christi Coastal Classic Sunday evening at Carver Arena.

Bradley built 17 point leads in each half, the last with a 49-32 advantage with 6:32 remaining. Although the Braves never completely put the Aggies away, their lead never dipped below eight down the stretch.

Omari Grier led the Braves with 10 points, reaching double-digits with two free throws to seal the win with 11 seconds remaining. All nine Braves who played scored at least three points and all nine grabbed at least one rebound.

Khary Doby came off the North Carolina A&T bench to lead the visitors with 12 points. Similarly, he was the only Aggie to score in double figures. Bruce Beckford snared a game-high 11 rebounds for A&T.

Bradley got off to a quick start, scoring nine of the game's first 11 points in the opening 4:01 and eventually built the lead to double-digits, 20-10, on a Donte Thomas one-handed alley-oop dunk with 10:36 left in the half. The Braves executed three alley-oops in the first half and converted five of their six dunks in the game in the opening 17:20.

The five first-half dunks equaled Bradley's total number of field goals in the second half, however. The Braves made just 5-of-19 (.263) field goal attempts in the second half, but maintained their lead by making 13-of-19 (.684) free throw attempts in the half.

Bradley will close out its season-opening, 4-game home stand at 7 p.m. Tuesday by hosting Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the second round of the Corpus Christi Coastal Classic. The 4-round multi-team event will move to American Bank Center in Corpus Christi Friday and Saturday. The Islanders (2-1) earned their first Division I win of the season Sunday with a 62-56 victory at Saint Louis.