Final Score (W-L)          1   2   F
Drake (6-22, 1-15 MVC)    41  29  70
Bradley (5-24, 3-13 MVC)  32  41  73
Attendance: 7,149 | Officials: David Stevens, Patrick Boehm, James Durham

The Lead
Donte Thomas made a fadeway 3-pointer as the shot clock was expiring with 23.9 seconds left to break a 68-68 tie, lifting Bradley to a 73-70 victory in the 1,000th Missouri Valley Conference game in Braves history. After Reed Timmer made two free throws with 6.3 seconds left, Ronnie Suggs made two for Bradley with 5.0 seconds left to complete the scoring. Drake committed a travel racing up the floor with 2.2 seconds left and Thomas caught the resulting inbounds pass and was not fouled as time expired.

Second Half Rally
Bradley trailed by as many as 11 points late in the first half and faced a 61-52 deficit with 6:30 remaining after a Graham Woodward free throw. Antoine Pittman scored four points in a 7-0 Bradley run that got the Braves to within 61-59 with 4:45 left. After Kale Abrahamson made two free throws to stop the run, Pittman scored straight to put the Braves in front for the first time since early in the second half, the last on a scramble play layup with 3:00 remaining for a 65-63 advantage.

Series Update
Bradley earned a regular-season split against the Bulldogs and improved to 83-62 all-time against Drake. The 145 games in the series, as well as the 83 victories, are the most Bradley has compiled against any opponent in program history. The Braves also improved to 50-19 all-time at home against Drake, making the Bulldogs the first Bradley opponent to lose 50 games in Peoria. First-year Bradley head coach Brian Wardle evened his career record against Drake at 2-2 after also going 1-1 against the Bulldogs during his 6-year stint at Green Bay.

Leaders
Bradley freshman Antoine Pittman scored 18 of his career-high 20 points in the second half, becoming the third Brave to score at least 20 points in a game this season. Luuk van Bree added 13 points and Donte Thomas checked in with 10 points on nine rebounds. The Bulldogs got a pair of 20-point performances: Kale Abrahamson with a game-high 21 points and Reed Timmer with 20.

Injury Update
After missing Wednesday's game due to injury, Luuk van Bree (Achilles) and Ka'Darryl Bell (shoulder) both were active Saturday. Leading The Valley in 3-point field goals made, van Bree was back in the starting lineup and buried a corner trey on his first attempt just 45 seconds into the game.

Van Bree's Treys
Bradley freshman forward Luuk van Bree entered the game leading all MVC freshmen with 41 3-point field goals. The 6-foot-9 forward made his first attempt Saturday, converting at least one 3-pointer for the 11th time in his last 12 games. He finished with two 3-pointers Saturday and ranks fifth in school history with 43 3-pointers made by a freshman, the most since Sam Maniscalco set the record with 55 treys in 2007-08.

Youthful PT
Bradley was back at its regular-season active roster high Saturday with a 12-man active roster that included 10 freshmen. Given the roster make-up, Bradley once again played the entire 40 minutes Saturday with at least three freshmen on the court together. Bradley's freshmen totaled 166 of the 200 available minutes Saturday and the first-year players continue to easily lead the nation for minutes played by freshmen: 4,844 of 5,850 possible (82.8 percent).

Up Next
Bradley will play its final home game of the 2015-16 season Tuesday night by hosting Missouri Valley Conference rival Evansville in an 8 p.m. contest at Carver Arena. Fans are reminded of the later start time to accommodate the MVC-TV broadcast. The 10 prizes, ranging from $500 to $25,000, in the annual Braves Club Raffle, presented by South Side Trust and Savings Bank, will be drawn at halftime. Raffle tickets are $100 each and are available for purchase through the Braves Club Office (309-677-2667) or from a Braves Club Board member at Carver Arena Tuesday night.