Indiana State INS 13-17, 8-10 MVC

Bradley BRAD 19-12, 9-9 MVC

Indiana State INS

13-17, 8-10 MVC

Final

Feb. 24, 2018

Bradley BRAD

19-12, 9-9 MVC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Indiana State INS	34	32	66
Bradley BRAD	31	33	64

Box Score

Braves Drop Regular-Season Finale to Indiana State

Box Score (PDF)

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 2/24/2018 7:16:00 PM

Peoria, Ill. – Senior Donte Thomas of the Bradley men's basketball team scored a career-best 24 points in his final home game, presented by OSF Orthopedics, at Carver Arena but Indiana State escaped with a 66-64 victory on Saturday afternoon. The Braves finished fifth in the final Missouri Valley Conference standings – their highest finish in eight years – with a 9-9 conference record and 19-12 overall mark. The Sycamores earned the sixth seed after moving to 13-17 and 8-10 versus league foes.

Thomas made 9-of-16 field goals to give the season-high crowd of 7,827 a reason to cheer. In addition to his 24 points, the senior collected eight rebounds, two blocks, one assist and one steal. Junior Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye also added 12 points to go with a game-high seven assists.

Indiana State, however, prevailed thanks to a strong effort on the boards. The Sycamores turned 17 offensive rebounds into 16 second-chance points and won the rebounding battle by a 45-29 margin.

#ThankYouDonte

For the final home game of his career, Donte Thomas gave the fans one of his best performances, scoring a personal-best 24 points. Check out the highlights of a man that will be missed at Carver Arena #TheMovement pic.twitter.com/3AIT6CBSQJ
— Bradley Basketball (@bradleyumbb) February 25, 2018

The Sycamores started strong and raced to a game-high eight-point lead just more than six minutes into the contest, 15-7. Indiana State maintained its lead for most of the opening period and held a six-point edge, 21-15, with 8:26 left. However, Bradley used a 7-0 spurt to pull ahead by one, 22-21, before four lead changes and three ties in the closing minutes resulted in Indiana State holding a three-point edge at the intermission, 34-31.

In the second stanza, Bradley used an early 8-0 run to pull in front of the Sycamores, 41-39, just over five minutes into the frame. However, Indiana State continued to answer every time the Braves grabbed the lead and pushed its advantage to as many as six points down the stretch, 57-51, with 6:31 remaining. Thomas and the Braves would not go down quietly though. The senior knocked down his fifth 3-pointer of the season and Lautier-Ogunleye added a pair of free throws on the next trip to quickly pull Bradley back within one, 57-56. The Braves then squared the contest after another four-point spurt from the duo, knotting the game at 60 with 4:10 remaining.

Indiana State reclaimed a three-point edge but Thomas again added a free throw followed by a layup on the next possession to tie the game, 64-all, with 1:42 left. The Braves forced a shot clock violation on the ensuing Indiana State possession but after a missed 3-pointer of their own, the Sycamores took advantage of one final offensive board with a basket with eight ticks left. Bradley had one last chance to force overtime but missed on its final possession as Indiana State secured the 66-64 victory.

The Braves shot 41.5 percent in the winning effort, while holding the Sycamores to 37.7 percent but eight extra shots for Indiana State proved to be too much.

Bradley now turns its focus to the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament when the fifth-seeded Braves face fourth-seeded Drake on Friday at 2:30 p.m.

Game Notes: Thomas scored two more points than his previous career high, accomplished three previous times … The Braves finished the 2017-18 season with a 13-2 record at Carver Arena – its most home wins in the regular season since also claiming 13 during the 2006-07 campaign … Bradley scored 14 fastbreak points – a season high for the Braves against a Division I school … Leading scorer Darrell Brown missed the final eight minutes of the game for BU with an injury … Bradley and Drake are meeting the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament for the sixth time in the last eight years with Bradley winning three of the previous five.

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