Southern Illinois SIU 16-16

Bradley BRAD 21-11

Southern Illinois SIU

16-16

Final

Mar. 06, 2020

Bradley BRAD

21-11

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Southern Illinois SIU	27	32	59
Bradley BRAD	24	40	64

Box Score

Bradley Defeats Southern Illinois to Advance to Arch Madness Semifinals

Box Score (PDF)

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 3/6/2020 6:24:00 PM

St. Louis – The Bradley men's basketball finished strong to earn a 64-59 victory over fifth-seeded Southern Illinois in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Quaterfinals on Friday. The Braves are now 21-11 on the season, while the Salukis finish the year with a 16-16 record.

Senior Darrell Brown led the Braves with 19 points and eight assists in the winning effort. Junior Elijah Childs added 16 points, nine rebounds and a career-best five blocks, while freshman Ville Tahvanainen scored 12 points off the bench, making four 3-pointers.

The teams played a defensive first half as both schools made it difficult for the other to score early. After Bradley tallied the first five points of the game, Southern Illinois scored the next 12 points to take the early advantage in the contest. The Salukis led by as many as five points in the opening 20 minutes before a late Bradley offensive surge brought BU to within three at the break, 27-24.

The Salukis then stretched their lead to nine early in the second half, hitting 3-pointers on consecutive possessions for a 37-28 lead with just over 15 minutes remaining. Tahvanainen and senior Nate Kennell responded for the Braves, however, with two triples of their own to quickly bring the game within a single possession, 37-34 – setting up an exciting finish to the quarterfinal.

The Salukis led by six points, 46-40, with 8:35 remaining before a 7-0 Bradley run gave BU its first lead since the score was 5-3. Bar made a dunk to start the surge before Brown scored Bradley's next five points, finishing with an and-one, for a 47-46 advantage with 7:03 left in regulation.

The schools then traded the lead four times over the next three minutes with Tahvanainen's 3-pointer with 4:21 left putting Bradley in front by two, 53-51. Bradley went ahead by two points four times in the final four-plus minutes only for the Salukis to answer each time to tie the contest. With the game knotted at 59, Kennell found a driving Ja'Shon Henry for a layup while being fouled to give Bradley the lead with 19.7 seconds remaining. Henry completed the three-point play to put BU in front, 62-59, and the Braves secured the victory after forcing an SIU miss and making two more free throws for the 64-59 final score.

The Braves shot 39.7 percent in the winning effort. BU also held the Salukis to just 37.5 percent shooting, while also recording a 43-29 edge on the glass.

Bradley now advances to the MVC Tournament Semifinals for the third-straight season. The Braves will face Drake, who upset top-seeded Northern Iowa earlier in the day, at 2:30 for a spot in Sunday's title game.

Game Notes: Childs became the 50th Brave to score 1,000 points during his career and just the 19th in school history to reach the mark by the end of his junior campaign … Bradley advanced to the MVC Semifinals in three-straight years for the first time since a six-year run from 1994 to 1999 … The Braves collected 12 blocks in Friday's win – its most in a MVC Tournament game in school history and the second-most for any team in the history of the tournament (Illinois State had 14 blocks against Evansville in 2017) … Childs is the fourth Brave to collect five blocks in a MVC Tournament game … Brown is the first Brave with eight assists in a MVC Tournament contest since Charles White against Tulsa in 1990 … The defending MVC Champions, Bradley won four tournament games in a row for the first time in school history as BU lost its opener the last two times it won the title … Bradley has held its opponent to under 60 points in each of the four tournament wins the last two seasons, allowing only 55.5 points per game during that span.

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