St. Louis, MO. The Bradley Braves advanced to the MVC Tournament Championship game after besting the Indiana State Sycamores in the game's final moments off a pair of Malevy Leons free throws.
Game Recap
The first game of Semifinal Saturday was an exciting one. Bradley and Indiana State came out of the gate firing on all cylinders as the Sycamores and Braves combined for seven of nine shooting from downtown by the game's first media timeout. Duke Deen had the hot hand early, collecting seven of BU's first nine points.
Bradley's starters would have a rough start to the game scoring the ball, but BU's bench would show up in a big way. Darius Hannah and Ja'Shon Henry combined for 27 points in the Bradley win and fueled a frenetic BU defense that recorded three blocks and three steals. Henry was a one-man wrecking crew down low as the fifth-year senior collected 17 points, seven rebounds, two steals, and a solo block.
As the game entered the final few minutes, both Indiana State and Bradley felt the sway of momentum swing back and forth. Bradley, up six with under three minutes remaining, saw its lead slip away after back-to-back layups by Cam Henry and a 3-pointer by Courvoisier McCauley put Indiana State up one with just over 30 seconds remaining. Following a Bradley timeout, BU would have to hoist a Duke Deen three-pointer, but it would be too strong. However, Malevy Leons soared over the Sycamore players searching for the long rebound and snatched the ball out of the air while drawing the foul. Leons would then connect on both of his free throws in the one-and-one situation to put Bradley up 71-70 with just 6.4 seconds left.
Indiana State would then take a timeout. On the following inbound, the Sycamores raced up the right sideline and tried to find an open look. The Bradley defense closed off any initial lane to the rim, and the Sycamores were forced to throw up a deep three-pointer by McCauley that came up short.
Chasing History
Bradley is aiming to claim its fifth MVC tournament title. This could be the first time since 1988 that BU has won the MVC tournament championship as well as the MVC regular season championship in the same season. BU accomplished that feat only twice in the school's history in 1980 and 1988. Both of those tournaments were played in Peoria, so this would be the first time they would have won both with the tournament championship being played on a neutral floor.
What's Next?
Bradley will take on Drake in the MVC Tournament Championship game tomorrow. The game is slated for a 1 p.m. tipoff from the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, MO. You can watch the game on CBS. Please check your local listings to find the easiest access to view the game.
