Bradley BRAD 9-8, 3-5 MVC

Valparaiso VALPO 6-9, 3-3 MVC

Bradley BRAD

9-8, 3-5 MVC

Final

Jan. 28, 2021

Valparaiso VALPO

6-9, 3-3 MVC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	OT 1	OT 2	F
Bradley BRAD	32	30	8	15	85
Valparaiso VALPO	29	33	8	21	91

Box Score

Braves Fall in Double Overtime at Valparaiso

Box Score (PDF)

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 1/28/2021 9:59:00 PM

Valparaiso, Ind. – The Bradley men's basketball team dropped a 91-85 double overtime contest to Valparaiso on Thursday night. The Braves are now 9-8 on the year with a 3-5 Missouri Valley Conference record, while the Crusaders improve to 6-9 and 3-3 in league play.

Senior Elijah Childs led the Braves with a career-best 27 points on the night to go with 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. Junior Terry Nolan Jr. added 20 points for BU, while Sean East II chipped in 13 points. In his first game back from injury, Ja'Shon Henry collected 10 points and nine rebounds.

Bradley started the game very strong, outscoring the Crusaders by 14 points in the opening 13 minutes of action for a 25-11 lead. The Braves made 11 of their first 19 shots, while holding the Crusaders to just 4-of-22 shooting to start the contest.

Valparaiso, however, would fight back late in the opening period to pull within three at the break. Trailing 32-20, the Crusaders scored the final nine points of the half to head into the intermission at 32-29. The momentum then carried over into the second half as Valpo scored the first seven points for its first lead of the game, 36-32.

The Crusaders held the advantage for nearly the remainder of the half before a late Bradley run allowed the Braves back into the game. Trailing 61-52, Bradley tallied the next 10 points for a 62-61 advantage with just 49 seconds remaining. Valparaiso drew a foul on the other end and made 1-of-2 to tie the game before BU missed a game-winning shot in the closing seconds.

The schools played a close first overtime session with Childs putting Bradley ahead by one with 30 seconds remaining, 68-67. Valparaiso answered with a bucket with 13 seconds left for a one-point lead and then after a Bradley miss, the Crusaders added a free throw for a 70-68 lead with three ticks remaining. Off the ensuing inbounds, Rienk Mast threw the ball down the court and found Childs from 15 feet out. The senior then had his turnaround jumper bank in with 0.7 seconds remaining for the 70-70 game after five extra minutes.

In the second extra session, Valparaiso got hot from beyond the arc – making 4-of-6 – to earn the 91-85 double overtime victory.

Bradley shot 46.2 percent on the day, with a 4-of-13 mark from 3-point range. Valparaiso converted 36.6 percent of its shots but 11 3-pointers and a 28-of-38 performance from the charity stripe made the difference on the night.

The Braves look to get back to their winning ways this weekend with a two-game series at Indiana State. The schools begin the set on Sunday at 3 p.m. CT.

Game Notes: Childs' previous high in points was 24 points on Feb. 19, 2019 against Drake … Childs also extended his double-digit scoring streak to all 17 games this season … Nolan's 20 points are his most as a Brave – previous high was 17, while his career-best is 24 points as a member of the George Washington program … Two Braves scored at least 20 points in the same game for the first time since Jan. 23, 2019 against Illinois State (Luuk van Bree and Darrell Brown) … Bradley last played a double overtime game against North Dakota on Dec. 5, 2015 … The home team has won all 10 regular-season games in the series.

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