Evansville UE 6-7, 4-3 MVC

Bradley BRAD 8-4, 2-1 MVC

Evansville UE

6-7, 4-3 MVC

Final

Jan. 16, 2021

Bradley BRAD

8-4, 2-1 MVC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Evansville UE	27	33	60
Bradley BRAD	34	35	69

Box Score

Braves Return Home with a 69-60 Win Over Evansville

Box Score (PDF)

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 1/16/2021 6:41:00 PM

Peoria, Ill. – Playing at Carver Arena for the first time in 28 days, the Bradley men's basketball team earned a 69-60 victory against Evansville on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Braves improve to 8-4 on the season with a 2-1 mark in Missouri Valley Conference play, while the Purple Aces drop to 6-7 and 4-3 versus league foes.

Senior Elijah Childs led the Braves with 19 points in the winning effort – making 9-of-11 field goals to go with eight rebounds. Junior Terry Nolan Jr. added 16 points and five boards with sophomore Ville Tahvanainen also scoring in double figures with 13 points.

Redshirt freshman Rienk Mast anchored a dominant performance on the glass for BU with a career-best nine rebounds, while sophomore Sean East II paced the Bradley attack with six assists.

After a strong start by the Purple Aces from beyond the arc gave the visitors a one-point edge, 15-14, Bradley used a 16-3 run to move in front for good. The run was ignited by a pair of possessions that saw a Brave block an Evansville shot on one of the court and then finish with a dunk on the other side, with Darius Hannah first providing the highlight reel and followed by Mast. Overall, the Braves made 7-of-9 field goals during the 4:32 stretch, while holding the Aces to just 1-of-5 for the 30-18 lead.

Evansville cut its deficit to five in the closing minutes of the first before Bradley added a late bucket for a 34-27 intermission lead.

The Braves quickly moved their edge to double digits early in the second stanza, 41-29, but the Aces did not go away quietly and scored the next eight points for a 41-37 contest. Bradley went back up by 11, 53-42, only for Evansville to again respond and slowly pull within three points, 60-57, with 4:11 remaining. Tahvanainen then stepped up for the Braves with five-straight points, making a pair from the charity stripe before a triple on the next possession for a 65-57 lead with 3:05 left. Evansville would never be closer than seven points the rest of the game as Bradley earned its second-straight conference win with a 69-60 victory.

Bradley shot a season-best 61.4 percent in the winning effort, dominating the paint by a 40-12 margin. The Braves also held a 38-20 advantage on the glass and held the Purple Aces to 37.7 percent shooting in the victory.

The schools wrap up the two-game series tomorrow afternoon at Carver Arena with first tip scheduled for 3 p.m.

Game Notes: Bradley's 61.4 percent shooting performance is its highest since making 63.2 percent of its shots against Drake on Feb. 26, 2011 … The +18 rebounding margin was Bradley's highest in a Valley game since a +24 margin against Drake on Feb. 25, 2017 … Childs scored a season-best 19 points on Saturday and extended his streak of scoring at least 10 points in all 12 games this season … The Braves have won six-straight in the series over the Aces.

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