Loyola Chicago LUC 18-5, 8-3 MVC

Bradley BRAD 17-7, 7-4 MVC

Loyola Chicago LUC

18-5, 8-3 MVC

Final

Jan. 31, 2018

Bradley BRAD

17-7, 7-4 MVC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Loyola Chicago LUC	29	38	67
Bradley BRAD	37	32	69

Box Score

Braves Win Top-Two Battle over Loyola, 69-67

Box Score (PDF)

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 1/31/2018 11:48:00 PM

Peoria, Ill. – In a matchup of first and second place in The Valley, the Bradley men's basketball team posted a 69-67 win over Loyola on Wednesday night. With the win – the team's 14th-straight at Carver Arena – the Braves improve to 17-7 and 7-4 against conference foes, while the Ramblers drop to 18-5 and 8-3 in MVC play.

Freshman Elijah Childs led Bradley with a career-best 18 points to go with a team-leading seven rebounds. Three other Braves scored in double figures with senior Donte Thomas, junior Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye and sophomore Nate Kennell adding 12 points.

Lautier-Ogunleye and sophomore Darrell Brown paced the Bradley attack with eight assists apiece.

The Braves were the aggressor from the start and opened up an early lead. After Loyola grabbed a slight advantage, 8-7, the Braves outscored the Ramblers 15-3 over an eight-minute stretch. The Braves made 5-of-9 field goals during the run – including two triples by Kennell – while holding Loyola to just 1-of-7 and five turnovers during the stretch for a 22-11 BU lead.

The Bradley lead reached as high as 13 points before closing out the first half with an eight-point edge, 37-29. The Braves shot 51.9 percent in the opening 20 minutes, which included a 20-8 advantage in points in the paint.

NOT IN OUR ??

Braves take down first-place Loyola for win No. 1?4? in a row at Carver #TheMovement pic.twitter.com/g7URHs2kfh
— Bradley Basketball (@bradleyumbb) February 1, 2018

In the second stanza, the Braves responded every time the Ramblers tried to cut its deficit. Loyola scored the first four points to pull within four only for the Braves to push their lead back to double digits with a 9-3 run. The Ramblers then pulled back within four, 53-49, with just under eight minutes remaining only for Bradley to answer with a 7-0 run for a 60-49 lead with 6:12 left.

Loyola, however, had one run left in them with a 10-0 spurt to make it a one-point game, 60-59, with 2:12 remaining, setting up a thrilling conclusion at Carver Arena. Brown knocked down a corner jumper before a Loyola layup and brought them back within one. Childs then knocked down a pair of free throws after an offensive rebound only for the Ramblers to hit a triple on the other end to square the contest at 64 with 1:05 remaining.

On Bradley's next possession, Brown drew a foul and hit both free throws for a 66-64 edge with 46.5 ticks left. On the other end, Lautier-Ogunleye drew a charge to give BU the advantage. Brown nailed another two free throws for a four-point lead with 24.5 seconds left but the Ramblers would not go away with another three with 12.4 seconds remaining for a 68-67 game. The Braves would make 1-of-2 free throws on the other end for a two-point lead before the Bradley defense came up big and did not allow Loyola to get a shot off as the Braves held on for its 14th-straight home victory.

The Braves finished by shooting 48.0 percent against the nation's seventh-ranked defense, including a 6-of-15 day from beyond the arc. The Ramblers made 44.9 percent of their shots with a 9-of-22 performance from 3-point range.

Bradley looks to extend its home-court winning streak on Saturday with a contest against Drake. The 2018 Hall of Fame Class will be inducted at halftime with a 7 p.m. tipoff against the Bulldogs.

Game Notes: Bradley's 14-game home winning streak is the longest in the MVC and the team's longest since a 15-game run in 2006 … The win was Bradley's first against a first-place MVC team in the second half of the conference season since a win against Northern Iowa in 2010 … Brown has registered eight assists in three-straight games … Childs previous career high was 15 against Southeast Missouri State on Dec. 20 … The Braves pulled even in the Battle for Illinois Series – a men's and women's basketball competition between the four MVC schools from Illinois – at four points with Loyola.

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