PEORIA, Ill. - Bradley overcame a cold-shooting game by equalling its best defensive effort in 17 years, earning a 52-38 win against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (2-2) in the second round of the Corpus Christi Coastal Classic Tuesday night at Carver Arena.

The Braves (2-2), limited their visitors to 38 points on 29.5 percent field goal shooting, including a 3-for-23 (.130) effort in the first half. The 38 points allowed equalled the effort of a 55-38 win Feb. 22, 2014 versus Loyola Chicago for the fewest points Bradley has surrendered since a 76-35 win against Oakland Dec. 6, 1997.

Junior forward Jermaine Morgan enjoyed his best game to date as a Brave with 10 points, making 5-of-9 (.556) field goal attempts. Midway through the second half, Morgan was 4-for-7 from the field, while the other 21 players who had participated in the game to that point had combined to make 7-of-46 (.152) field goal attempts. Junior point guard Ka'Darryl Bell led the Braves with 12 points and Islanders point guard John Jordan scored a game-high 14.

Bell made the two biggest plays of the game, banking in a desparation 3-pointer from the left wing as the halftime buzzer sounded for a 22-15 Bradley lead at the break. He then dove on the floor for a denial steal with 2:17 remaining. Bell drained two free throws on the ensuing possession for a 49-38 lead with 1:45 remaining, giving the Braves a lasting, double-digit lead.

While Bradley held the Islanders to 3-for-23 shooting in the first half, including an 0-for-11 effort from 3-point range, the Braves failed to pull away, thanks to a 6-for-20 effort from the floor themselves. Bell's off-balanced, turn around banked 3-pointer ended up being the only trey for either team in the first half.

Among the frigid shooting notes from the opening frame: nine players ended the first half with two personal fouls apiece, equalling the number of made field goals (9) by the two teams; the teams combined for one first-half assist and it came on an inbounds play with a pass that missed the intended target and was scooped up in traffic by Mike Shaw for a paint basket.

The Braves scored the first six points of the second half on an inside basket from Morgan, an Auston Barnes layup and two Josh Cunningham free throws for a 28-15 lead with 15:59 remaining. The Islanders answered with a 6-0 run to pull within 28-21 with 14:26 left, but Bradley countered with consecutive 3-pointers from Omari Grier and Barnes to reclaim its double-digit lead.

Bradley, which improved to 18-1 all-time in multi-team event (MTE) home games, will continue the Corpus Christi Coastal Classic Friday with a 6 p.m. game against TCU (4-0 pending a Wednesday home game versus Mississippi Valley State) at American Bank Center in Corpus Christi. Friday's two evening games will be televised on CBS Sports Network. Saint Louis and Mississippi State will meet in the final game Friday night, with the winners and losers to square off in Saturday's final round - 3:30 p.m. for the losers and 6 o'clock for the winners.