PEORIA, IL - Five freshmen led the Bradley back from an 8-point deficit in the game's final 6:30 and the Braves (1-0) held on for a 54-53 win against Ball State (0-1) to start the Brian Wardle coaching era Friday night at Carver Arena.

The 14th head coach in Bradley history, Wardle became the 10th, and the fourth consecutive, to win his debut game with the Braves. But the outcome appeared in doubt when Ball State used a Sean Sellers 3-point play with 8:35 remaining to take the biggest lead for either team in the game, 45-37.

On a cold-shooting night for both teams, the score held until freshman point guard Joel Okafor kick-started a 13-2 Bradley run in a span of just 3:04 that forced the game's 12th lead change.  The freshman quintet of Okafor, Callum Barker, Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye, Ronnie Suggs and Luuk van Bree stayed on the floor together for the game's final 7:29.

Van Bree was 0-for-6 and plagued by foul trouble most of the night, but after coming up with blocked shots on consecutive Ball State possessions while the Braves were fighting back, the 6-foot-9 forward drained 3-pointers on consecutive Bradley possessions to tie the game at 47-47 with 4:03 left and push the Braves in front, 50-47, with 3:18 remaining.

After Naiel Smith forged the game's ninth tie at 50-50 on a 3-pointer of his own with 2:07 remaining, Barker gave the Braves the lead for good by splitting two free throws with 1:52 remaining.
Lautier-Ogunleye led all players with 18 points and three assists and Barker just missed a double-double with 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Ball State did not have a double-digit scorer as three Cardinals scored eight point - Smith, Jeremiah Davis and Bo Calhoun. The latter added nine rebounds.

Bradley shot just 31.9 percent (15-47) from the field and the Braves started the second half just 3-for-18, but made 5-of-6 field goal attempts in the game-changing surge. The Braves also limited Ball State to 36.4 percent (20-55) from the floor and the Cardinals hurt themselves by making just 10-of-20 free throw attempts.

Bradley will have little time to celebrate: the Braves will visit Nos. 12/10 Arizona Monday in a 6 p.m. MT game, then will travel across the country for the Gildan Charleston Classic and a first-round matchup Thursday against #6 Virginia.