Peoria, Ill. – The Bradley Braves earned a win in a back-and-forth contest between the Northern Iowa Panthers, 75-69.
The Braves exited the first half of the contest with a three-point lead over the Panthers. The score may have been close, but the Braves were already winning the extracurriculars. The bench scored 23 compared to UNI's 10, Bradley had three blocks compared to Northern Iowa's zero and offensive rebounds with six compared to three. The Braves shot 47.1% from the field in the first 20 minutes of the contest. Throughout a back-and-forth half, the Braves never saw themselves trailing by more than three points.
In the second half, the Braves started with the lead and once again never let the Panthers be more than three points ahead. Once more, Bradley scored 23 from the bench, holding a Panther offense that was hot from three to start the contest to just three from beyond the arc in the second half. The game was iced when senior
Ahmet Jonovic drained both of his free throws with 12 seconds left in the contest. The Braves were efficient with the ball, finishing with just five turnovers, earning 41 rebounds, nine of which were offensive rebounds, which kept the ball in their possession to help secure the victory as the clock wound down.
Bradley was once more led by
Jaquan Johnson, who scored 17. Johnson had a team high in assists and steals to go along with the most points for the Braves, with five and two, respectively.
Timoty van der Knaap led the way with 13 rebounds, earning his 10th board with more than 10 minutes to go in the second half, playing in 26 minutes in this contest and scoring eight points. Jonovic scored 16 points while grabbing nine boards, while leading the team with two blocks. Jonovic also led the team in field goal percentage, shooting 6-7 from the floor.
AJ Smith,
Alex Huibregtse and
Corey Thomas each had a pair from beyond the arc for the Braves, as Huibregtse led the team by playing in 35 minutes and dished out the second-most assists with four.
With the win, Head Coach
Brian Wardle has now earned the second most wins among Bradley head coaches all time, passing Joe Stowell tonight with his 198th win.
The Braves are undefeated at home in Valley play, winning the last eight contests played in front of the fans of Peoria. Bradley will remain undefeated at home for over two months, as their next home contest isn't until January 21st when they host Indiana State. Bradley's next game is on Tuesday, January 13, as the team travels to Evansville, who they beat 76-68 at home for the final game of 2025.