For the second straight year, Rienk Mast sat in the postgame press conference at Arch Madness with hints of tears in his eyes.
Basketball means everything to the sophomore from the Netherlands. Oftentimes, he’s the Braves’ energizer, hyping the team up before their games and demonstrating a love for putting dozens of hours into getting better at his craft.
But for the second straight year, Mast and the Braves’ season came to a halt after 40 minutes of play at the MVC Tournament.
Bradley’s inexperience was a storyline for the duration of this season and that was their Achilles heel in their 66-50 loss to Loyola on Friday. The Ramblers featured seven seniors and seven players who have played in an MVC title before.
“I think you have to experience Arch Madness,” Bradley head coach Brian Wardle said. “It definitely does help. I left a lot of guys in the game the rest of the game just cause they needed to feel that. They needed to feel the disappointment. That’s gotta drive you in the offseason.”
Bradley, meanwhile, had eight newcomers on their roster; three transfers, three freshmen recruits and two walk-ons. Coming into Arch Madness, junior Ville Tahvanainen and senior Ari Boya were the only active Braves who had played more than one game in St. Louis. But while seniors depart from the MVC heavyweights, the Braves’ future is set to hit its peak sooner rather than later.
“We have a lot of good guys in that locker room who have improved all year,” Wardle said. “They made some strides; there’s still a long way to go but it’s just sad to see this team done cause I know they all got along and we were having a lot of fun down the stretch here.”
Mast carried the Braves in their lone conference tournament game for the second straight year. The sophomore posted his ninth double-double of the season with 11 points and 13 rebounds after recording 24 points and 10 rebounds in the Braves’ first-round loss to Southern Illinois last year.
After turning around a season that began at 1-5 with one of the youngest rosters in the MVC, Wardle knows that Mast’s efforts will be matched by his teammates in the postseason as their experience grows.
“Everyone will come in here with more confidence,” Wardle said. “The more experience you get, the more confidence you get and I think that’s gonna be a big thing next year is we’re going to come in here with a lot more confidence.”
That confidence wasn’t yet there on Friday, as the Braves committed 15 turnovers and shot a season-low 31% from the field. For everyone except Tahvanainen and Boya, it was their first experience playing at Enterprise Arena in front of thousands of fans.
“With the fans, it’s just a whole different experience than last year,” Mast said. “It was a totally different atmosphere. We just got more experienced this year and I hope that helps us into next year.”
“A positive that you can take away is that it was definitely a learning experience for all of us,” freshman Connor Hickman added. “Just being in that big arena and seeing them go on runs and seeing how we can come together and try to weather that, I think that’s just a positive that we can learn from.”
The transfer portal, which hundreds of players used last offseason, can both give and take away team’s centerpieces, but on paper, the Braves have plenty of optimism as they wait in the wings for the 2022-23 season to get underway.
Bradley’s starting lineup of Mast, Hickman, sophomore Jayson Kent and juniors Malevy Leons, Terry Roberts and Tahvanainen can all return. That list combined for 81% of the Braves’ scoring this year and 90% of their points on Friday against the Ramblers.
Roberts, Mast and Hickman earned all-conference honors, while Leons brought an impressive skill set to both ends of the floor. Hickman finished the season on a high note, with three straight double-digit scoring performances as well.
“The main thing I’ve been trying to do this year is put together a stretch of consistent games,” Hickman said. “I think the last couple games I’ve really been trying to do that and not force things and just kind of playing in the flow and I think that’s helped me a lot.”
The Braves lose a key bench piece in graduate guard and main distributor Mikey Howell. While listed as seniors, Boya and beloved forward Ja’Shon Henry, who missed 19 games with an injury, have an option to return. Freshman Zek Montgomery emerged as a versatile playmaker with a good shooting stroke and it’s certain that Wardle and the Braves’ coaching staff will be keenly hunting on the recruiting trail and in the transfer portal.
The portal brings uncertainty to any Division-I basketball team regardless, but the Braves’ culture has rebounded following the turmoil of last season, which leads Wardle to believe that much of the roster will stay.
“It is something you have to think about as a coach now because teams will start recruiting,” Wardle said. “I’m always honest, I’m always very truthful to my players and hopefully we bring the whole roster back because it could be a really fun year if we can.”
Next year brings mid-major powerhouses Murray State and Belmont in – and Loyola out of – the door of the MVC. Both newcomers have the firepower to compete for a conference championship, but the Braves will have time to review, determined to regain the glory of winning back to back conference titles in 2019 and 2020.
There’s a lot for the team to reflect on; how to prevent and weather opposing runs, finding consistency, cutting down on turnovers, and figuring out how to play in the limelight of Arch Madness. All of those factors played roles in Bradley’s 14 losses this year.
The Braves looked great at times, knocking off Drake twice, Loyola, Northern Iowa and winning an in-season tournament. They also looked like the exact same inexperienced team that they are on paper as well in a few gut-wrenching losses to conference foes on the road.
But one thing is for certain; Friday’s loss to the Ramblers will sting, but it built character and lit an even bigger fire under the team.
“I’m ready to work this offseason,” Mast said definitively. “This one really hurts right now. We really had a chance to show that we had a good team and I hope the rest of the team is ready to work this offseason.”
