Sophomore foward Donte Thomas swished a three-pointer with 23 seconds left to cap a comeback 73-70 win over Drake in the 1,000th Missouri Valley Conference game in Bradley men’s basketball history.
“They took away what we wanted [to run] at first,” head coach Brian Wardle said. “We just moved the ball, and in big games like this you need big shots and win games. [Thomas has ] kind of become our three-point threat down the stretch.”
Thomas scored 10 and grabbed nine rebounds in the contest, which also treated the crowd of 7,419 to Wardle’s 100th career victory.
“It was a total team effort,” Wardle said. “[It was] momentum swinging plays. Especially when you’re at home, the crowd and the passion was there in the second half. It speaks volumes of the character.”
The Braves trailed 41-32 at the half against the Bulldogs, after a first half which looked like any other Bradley game this season.
Freshman Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye scored 12 first-half points, but the Braves turned the ball over nine times to help put Drake up by nine at the break.
“We were kind of on our heels in the first half,” Wardle said. “We’re just trying to get this group to understand: You’ve got to think in the game; You’ve got to develop great habits”
But, that’s when fellow freshman Antoine Pittman burst onto the scene.
Pittman, who only had two first-half points, exploded for 18 second-half points, including a layup with three minutes left, which gave the Braves a 65-63 lead and capped a 15-5 Bradley run which spanned 4:14.
After Pittmans’ layup gave the Braves the lead, freshman forward Luuk van Bree and Thomas both made clutch shots to keep Bradley on top at the final buzzer.
“I just thought we made the winning plays down the stretch,” Wardle said. “We got great minutes off the bench from a couple guys in the second half.”
Following Thomas’s three-pointer and a couple Bradley free throws, Drake had one more chance to tie the game with five seconds left.
Thomas nearly tackled Drake guard Ore Arogundade on the ensuing rebound, as Wardle wanted his players to foul in order to prevent Drake from getting a good look at a three-point attempt.
However, the referees called a traveling on Drake instead, which all but sealed the game for the Braves.
“They’re a scary team offensively,” Wardle said. “You just don’t want [Drake guard Reed] Timmer getting that three off. They’ve got too many guys that can make that. Luckily, travel was called and we got the ball back.”
Wardle commended his team for playing together in the win, which clinched the ninth spot in the MVC.
“You can win this time of year if you can do that,” Wardle said. “Hopefully we got one or two left in us down the stretch.”
Even with the Braves’ 5-23 record, they’ll finish the regular season one spot higher in the MVC than last season.
Bradley will play its last home game, which is also its senior night game, at 7 p.m. next Tuesday against Evansville.
