Valparaiso VALPO 14-16, 7-10 MVC

Bradley BRAD 17-13, 9-8 MVC

Valparaiso VALPO

14-16, 7-10 MVC

Final

Feb. 27, 2019

Bradley BRAD

17-13, 9-8 MVC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Valparaiso VALPO	22	20	42
Bradley BRAD	31	36	67

Box Score

Braves Dominate Valpo on Senior Night, 67-42

Box Score (PDF)

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 2/27/2019 10:58:00 PM

Peoria, Ill. – The Bradley men's basketball team capped its most successful month of February in league play in 22 years with a dominating 67-42 victory against Valparaiso on Wednesday night. The Braves sent the fans home happy in their final game of the season at Carver Arena with the Senior Night win improving their record to 17-13 and 9-8 in Missouri Valley Conference action. The Crusaders dropped to 14-16 and 7-10 versus league foes with the loss.

The Braves completed February with a 6-2 mark in Valley games. It is the first time the Braves posted six conference wins during the final month of the regular season since going 7-2 in 1996-97.

Junior Nate Kennell led BU in the win with 20 points – becoming the sixth Brave this season to score at least 20 points in a game. The guard knocked down 7-of-11 field goals with a 3-of-6 mark beyond the arc in the winning effort.

Sophomore Elijah Childs nearly matched his teammate with 18 points to go with eight boards, while junior Darrell Brown also scored in double figures with 10 points.

Playing in the final home game of his career, senior Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye collected eight boards to go with a season-best seven assists on Senior Night.

🔊🔊 Hear what Coach Wardle had to say after Bradley's 67-42 win against Valparaiso! pic.twitter.com/SpyRvRHJrs
— Bradley Basketball (@bradleyumbb) February 28, 2019

🔊🔊 DLO discusses the Braves' win against Valparaiso and his final game in Carver Arena pic.twitter.com/te82pMqByn
— Bradley Basketball (@bradleyumbb) February 28, 2019

Valparaiso had the early edge before a 15-2 Bradley run put the hosts in front for good. Trailing 9-4, Childs and Kennell combined to scored 13 of the team's 15 points during the stretch with Childs' 3-pointer with 7:21 remaining capping the surge and putting Bradley ahead, 19-11.

The Crusaders were never closer than five points the rest of the game. Bradley headed into the locker room with a 31-22 advantage at the break, shooting 50.0 percent in first 20 minutes of action and holding Valparaiso to just 32.0 percent.

The Bradley advantage then quickly ballooned to 22 points early in the second stanza as the Braves outscored the Crusaders, 20-7, to start the period. Defense keyed the run as BU allowed Valparaiso to make just one of its first nine field goals of the half to go with four turnovers. Six Braves also scored during the stretch for the 51-29 lead with under nine minutes remaining.

The Braves cruised to the 25-point victory from there, sealing the win with a dunk from Lautier-Ogunleye and two points from Peter Hanley in the Senior Night win.

Bradley shot 50.0 percent in the winning effort, while its defense limited Valparaiso to just 26.8 percent shooting and a 9.1 percent clip from 3-point range (2-of-22).

The Braves hit the road one final time during the 2018-19 regular season, playing at Loyola on Saturday. The nationally-televised game is set for a 5 p.m. tipoff on ESPN2. Bradley needs either a win to secure a first-round bye for the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, a Southern Illinois victory against Illinois State or an Indiana State win versus Northern Iowa.

Game Notes: The 42 points allowed are the fewest by the Braves in a Valley game since a 55-38 win against Loyola on Feb. 22, 2014 … With Kennell scoring 20 points, Bradley's six 20-point scorers are the most since the 2006-07 team also had six 20-point scorers in a season … With his seven assists, Lautier-Ogunleye moved to just one helper away from being the fourth player in school history with 1,000 career points, 500 career rebounds and 300 career assists … Lautier-Ogunleye, Hanley, Luqman Lundy, Antoine Pittman and Luuk van Bree were honored on Senior Night as all five are set to earn their degree following the season … The home team has won all seven meetings in the series.

Print Friendly Version