Bradley rallies to beat Illinois State in overtime 79-75
The Bradley Braves rode a 24-14 run past the final 10:24 of regulation to force overtime and then held on to the free-throw line to defeat Illinois State 79-74 Wednesday at Carver Arena in Peoria to beat.
Bradley (13-8, 6-4) just watched his 17-game home winning streak – which finished third nationally – end in a heartbreaking Saturday loss to Belmont.
Live Stats:State of Illinois in Bradley | Preview: ISU in Bradley | Standings:MVC
The Braves opened the league season with victories over Northern Iowa and Missouri State before narrowly losing to Belmont and Illinois-Chicago to a resounding home win. The Braves then suffered an away loss at Murray State, orchestrated two stunning home wins against Valparaiso and Evansville, an away loss to Drake, an away win to Indiana State, and the loss to Belmont.
ISU (8-13, 3-7) has lost six of their last eight games. The Redbirds are coming off a 71-51 home loss to Valparaiso
The game will be televised on Bally Sports Midwest and NBC Sports Chicago, streamed on ESPN+ and aired on radio on WMBD 1470-AM and 100.3-FM.
FINALS: Bradley 79, Illinois State 75 (OT)
9:37 p.m
On the way to overtime
9:17 p.m.: Mast misses both FT with 16.3 left and down 68-67.
ISU McChesney immediately fouled, makes one. 69-67.
Zek Montgomery fouled from 3 with 3.8 left. He misses the first, makes the other two, and sends Bradley into overtime with ISU 69-69.
Henry and Mast with 4 fouls each. Burford, McChesney and Sissoko all with 4 fouls for ISU.
All tied up
21:02: Connor Hickman hits a 3 from above and Leons adds two free throws. It’s 65-65 with 1:51 left. crowd stands.
Bradley Rally
8:54 p.m.: Deen hit a 3 after that timeout to close within 58-52.
They force a turnover, the crowd stands and begs for a comeback.
Mast backs up, turns and hooks left for 58-54 at 6:20.
But Seneca Knight fouled from 3. He makes all 3rd ISU 61-54.
Mast then punches his way in, turning and hooking left of the baseline 61-56 at 5:02.
Then mast again, back to the rim, back in the ring, turn and hook to the right of the baseline and -1 with 4:26 left. Misses FT. Bradley is trailing 61-58 when the Under-4 media break arrives.
Illinois State rolls at 9
8:45 p.m.: Midway through the second half, Ja’Shon hit Henry with his fourth foul and was dismissed.
Duke Deen hits a 3 from a turnover to close 56-49 with 9:40 in the game.
But Kasubke responded with a layup and Illinois State took a 58-49 lead when Bradley called for a timeout with 8:23 to go.
I just can’t… get it
8:36 p.m.: The Braves forced a desperate shot from Colton Sandage from the corner as Illinois State’s shot clock ran out, but the Redbirds’ Kendall Lewis grabbed the rebound under the rim and used it at 11:49 for 51-54.
Illinois State with a 29-11 rebound advantage.
State of Illinois 49, Bradley 45
8:31 p.m.: Malevy Leons with a steal – he has four steals and two blocks in play – then goes to the other end and buries a 3 to pull the Braves to 49-45 at 12:17. Time Out, State of Illinois.
Leons plays D
8:23 p.m.: Bradley forward Malevy Leons blocks a shot from Seneca Knight – his fourth block of the game – but the ball kicks to the wing and McChesney buries a 3 for a 45-40 lead.
Then Duke Deen missed a 3 – Bradley is 2 of 10 from distance – and McChesney comes back to drive to the rim and take a 47:40 lead when the 4pm media break arrives.
HALFTIME: Illinois State 40, Bradley 36
8:07 p.m.: The Braves have 7 rebounds in the first half. SEVEN. They were booted out 18-7 by Illinois State.
The Redbirds also injured the Braves at the free throw line, where Bradley hit just 4 of 10 while Illinois State hit 14 of 16.
Ja’Shon Henry led BU with 9 points. Malevy Leons had 7. Illinois State received 11 points each from Seneca Knight and Luke Kasubke.
A big moment left at 3.6
8:01 p.m.: Crazy twist in the last 3.6 seconds of halftime. Henry fouled Poindexter attempting a 3 with a second before the buzzer.
It was a soft foul call and head coach Brian Wardle was furious, with officials hitting him with technicals.
That put Poindexter – who had an intact free throw shooting streak at 32 in a row – on the line for five free throws with a second remaining in the half.
He missed the first – catching his streak – but made the next four and Illinois State went into halftime with a 40-36 lead as the crowd really gave it to the officials.
dunk show
7:48 p.m.: The Braves slipped back four but began to gain momentum in the final 76 seconds of the half.
Malevy Leons had a steal and dunk to draw BU within 34-32 with 1:16 left.
Then Darius Hannah dived in with 30 seconds left to draw within 36-34.
Zek Montgomery had a steal and ignited the Crows with a windmill dunk for a 36-36 tie by 3.5 seconds.
Henry rolls
7:42 p.m.: Ja’Shon Henry hit another jumper for a 24-19 lead with 7:28 at halftime. That put him on a seven-point run for the Braves over 2:30.
ISU’s Kasubke 3 from the left corner for the 24:24 tie at 6:20.
Bradley wing Zek Montgomery responded with a corner 3 seconds later to make it 27-26.
Malevy Leons crossed the lane for a contested hook and BU took a 30-26 lead to exit the media break 3-51.
Bradley 22, Illinois 17
7:32 p.m.: Ja’Shon Henry with two straight power moves in the paint, hit a short jumper and then a layup.
In the latter, he was fouled for an and-1 and Illinois State’s Colton Sandage was called for a flopping technical.
Ville Tahvanainen missed the technical shot, Henry made his free throw and BU took a 22-17 lead.
Henry returns
7:25 p.m.: Rienk Mast is now sitting with 2 fouls. Henry has returned to the lineup and seems fine. Bradley is left 17-13 on a bucket by Darius Hannah with 11:20.
Bradley 12, Illinois 11
7:20 p.m.: The Braves and Illinois State play straight through the U16 media break, eventually being stopped at 12:17 p.m. We’re going to take two breaks here within two minutes.
Duke Deen hits a 3 from the left wing before those breaks to give Bradley a 12-11 lead.
Henry gets a punch
7:12 p.m.: Ja’Shon Henry gets the first points in his starting role tonight. Then on the next trip he heads for a dunk, misses and gets hit in the face under the rim on the rebound.
Henry bends over, hands over his face, can’t take it anymore and leaves the game 2:11 after tipoff.
Starting Lineups
6:45 p.m.: Bradley rolls out guards Connor Hickman and Duke Deen, with center Rienk Mast and forward Malevy Leons. And fifth-year forward Ja’Shon Henry pushes his way into the starting lineup for that one.
Illinois State goes with guards Luke Kasubke, Malachi Poindexter, Darius Burford and Seneca Knight, and forward Liam McChesney.
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star’s sports columnist, covering Bradley’s men’s basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or [email protected] Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.
