With 13 seconds to play in Bradley’s first game, the Braves trailed 65-63.
Their opponent, St. Bonaventure, had possession with eight seconds left. Its leading scorer, junior guard Darryl Simmons, had the ball–ready to sink the dagger.
Simmons ran a ball screen action and got the switch he wanted. Corey Thomas now guarded him on the perimeter. He drove to the rim, but Thomas moved his feet well and slid to contest the shot.
The ball rolled around the basket, but ultimately fell short.
Bradley had a chance.
Senior forward AJ Smith grabbed the rebound, looking to push the pace as the Braves had numbers in transition. He rifled a pass to junior guard Demarion Burch, who had an open lane towards the rim.
But Burch slipped and fell, and the ball landed out of bounds, effectively ending Bradley’s chances at winning the game.
Head coach Brian Wardle pleaded with officials, as it appeared that Burch had either tripped over an official or Bonnie’s head coach, Mark Schmidt. However, replay review showed that Burch went untouched, and Bradley fell to St. Bonaventure 69-63.
After the game, both Wardle and Burch took accountability for the costly mistake.
“I didn’t trip on nobody,” Burch said. “I just slipped. It was a wet spot by the sideline and the scorer’s table. It was kind of tight there. I was trying to get the pass, but I ended up falling. I just have to try to keep my balance. I’ll take that one on the chin.”
“I told the team I made a couple of mistakes,” Wardle remarked. “I gotta bring my A-game every night with this group. I should have called a timeout as soon as AJ got that rebound. With eight seconds to go, down two, we’ve gone over scenarios in practice, but we haven’t been there in a live game. I should have called timeout, made sure we secured the ball and got the last shot.”
Oftentimes, a costly play can lose a team a game, but Bradey’s struggles started much sooner.
A lid over the basket
St. Bonaventure dominated the game for the majority of the first half. The Braves couldn’t contain drives, which led to easy points in the paint or open threes for the Bonnies. They started the game 10-18 from the floor. Bradley was drastically outrebounded, leading to second-chance points and limiting its transition opportunity.
The Braves couldn’t establish a rhythm offensively. The team played a ton of one-on-one, which led to contested shots and began the game 1-11. As the game progressed, they began to find cleaner looks, but shots still wouldn’t fall.
That was until freshman guard Montana Wheeler entered the game.
The smallest player on the court was the most fearless. He drove to the basket and finished amongst the trees, found big men on rolls to the basket and hounded St.Bonaventure’s ball-handlers on defense.
Wheeler accounted for nine of Bradley’s first 17 points and helped the Braves keep the game in reach. The freshman has been a bright spot early in the season and has earned a role as a key bench piece.
“He’s an everyday guy. He shows up every day,” Wardle said. “I don’t have to motivate him to play hard and compete; He’s just wired that way. He’s going to get better and better.”
After Wheeler’s flurry, the Bonnies went on a 10-3 run to extend their lead to 13 – and that’s when the tide shifted.
A Brave rally
A commercial timeout stopped the run, and Bradley came out of the break with newfound vigor.
The Braves were more physical at the point of attack, stopped conceding drives and contested shots better. Bradley held the Bonnies to 2-10 shooting to close the half, and Burch led a 6-1 run to cut the deficit to eight at halftime.
“I think our guys had to wake up and guard the dribble better,” Wardle said. “It was really just discipline and the details, you know. Shading the top shoulder, not giving up middle drives so easily, chopping your feet on closeouts, and being an arm’s length away. You’ve got to be disciplined at this level to beat good teams, and I think we struggled to guard our man one-on-one, but I think we got better in the second half.”
Tug-o’-war
Burch continued his run in the second half, scoring quick points to bring his total to 13 and cutting the deficit to 5.
Burch’s buckets gave the Braves offense life and they married their physical defense with shotmaking.
Over the next five minutes, the Braves went on a 17-7 run, led by sophomore guard Jaquan Johnson and senior guard Alex Huibregtse, ending their first-half struggles. The explosion gave Bradley a 55-49 lead with 9:20 to play.
“In the first half, I was kinda playing a little bit too unselfish,” Johnson said. “He [Wardle] wanted me to start getting downhill and be me … do what I do. I just want to do whatever I gotta do to get the win. Whether scoring, getting assists, or guarding, I’m trying to win the game.”
After snatching the momentum away from St. Bonaventure, the Braves looked to be in the driver’s seat, but the Bonnies didn’t back down.
Leading up to the costly turnover that sealed the game, St. Bonaventure went on a 16-8 run to take the 65-53 lead. Both teams hit big shots, but the difference was rebounding. Bradley continued to play good defense, but they couldn’t end possessions, leading to second-chance points for their opponents.
The Braves allowed 15 offensive rebounds, which led to 11 second-chance points and a 15-point loss in the rebounding battle.
“We got killed on the glass,” Wardle said. “We lost the game because we didn’t defensively block out and rebound. We’ll have to watch that and see why we give up so many offensive rebounds in the second half, especially at critical times.”
Bradley’s season didn’t start as they hoped, but it was a good test against a strong opponent for a young team still looking to find its identity.
Wardle is preaching patience – as he has all offseason.
“This team has fight,” Wardle said. “We’ll get better. We have to clean some things up as coaches. It takes all of us to keep improving, and we’ll get there.”
The Braves will try to earn their first win of the season on Saturday at 7 p.m. at home against Central Michigan.
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