Peoria, IL. The short handed Bradley Braves protect home court against pesky Southeast Missouri State.
1st Half
The first half of action did not start how Bradley would've hoped. The troubles began even before the opening tip as starting shooting guard Connor Hickman was ruled out of the contest with ankle injury as a game time decision. This put the Braves down 3 starters and thrusted both Ja'shon Henry and Ville Tahvanainen into starting roles. Between the lines SEMO would start off burying five of their first 6 three pointers putting the Redhawks up 33-27 with under 6 minutes to go in the half. Bradley would not go quietly into the break as they ripped off a 10-0 scoring run go into the locker room up 46-36. Bradley's defense held SEMO scoreless from the field for the final 4:36 of the half. BU was led by Ville Tahvanainen at the break who had 9 points, 2 rebounds, and a steal to his name while SEMO had two players in double figures. Chris Harris led all scorers at the break with 12 points, nine of which came from the 3pt line.
2nd Half
Bradley's defense answered the call much better in the second half. The Braves held SEMO to just one of ten from the 3-point line subsequently never lost the lead, the closest SEMO came was within four at the 6:16 mark in the second half. BU meanwhile also wrote the script in altering shots. Malevy Leons and Darius Hannah combined for 11 team block with Leons recording four and Hannah collecting seven. Bradley was able to keep the Redhawks at bay after a Pop Weathers drive to the basket resulting in an a basket plus the foul. Weather's finished with 10 points off the bench, Bradley has seen a double digit scorer off the bench in 3 of 4 games this season.
Short-Handed
Connor Hickman, and Ja'shon Henry join a growing list of inactive Braves due to injury. Hickman was scratched from availability due to an injury to his ankle suffered in practice back on Thursday, he was held out as a precautionary measure. Henry was active and played 25 minutes in his first start of the season. Late in the second half Henry would find himself on a backdoor cut to score when a foul from behind resulted in contact to his head sidelining him for the remainder of the game. Henry will not join the team in Cancun as apart of the medical staff's recommendation.
Record setting Night
Bradley forward Darius Hannah finished the game with an unofficial 7 blocks against SEMO. This is the highest total of blocks by a single player in the Brian Wardle era. Hannah now ranks T-2nd all-time in single game blocks at Bradley with Donald Powell (at Tulsa 2/21/87), Danger Granger (vs MO-St 2/20/02), Adebayo Akinkunle (vs Drexel 3/12/97), Patrick O'Bryant 2x, (vs MO-St 1/5/05 and vs Drake 2/28/05). Patrick O'Bryant ranks first all-time with nine blocks against Tennessee Tech on 2/18/06. Bradley in the process was able to push their home court win streak to 10 straight games.
Where to Watch and Listen
Bradley vs Auburn can be streamed on the CBSSN or listened to on the radio with 1470 WMBD. The game is scheduled for a 5 pm tipoff from the Hard Rock Hotel Riveria in Cancun, Mexico.
