Originally published November 12, 2010
Though seniors Andrew Warren and Dodie Dunson combined for 44 points, Bradley basketball managed to drop its lone public exhibition to Div. II Quincy University Hawks 86-80.
“It’s disappointing and embarrassing mainly because we didn’t do what we are capable of,” Warren said. “With the team that we have, the attitude and effort wasn’t there and wasn’t sustained.”
The Braves played without All-Missouri Valley Conference players senior Sam Maniscalco and junior Taylor Brown but coach Jim Les wasn’t allowing that to be an excuse.
“It’s not a factor [to miss Maniscalco and Brown],” he said. “That never entered into my mind in the game and it never entered into our preparation. There are guys there that need to step up. Hopefully this is a good eye opener.”
The Braves got into foul trouble early and often. The Quincy Hawks went to the free throw line 41 times and converted 31 attempts.
“I don’t know if we played too aggressive, but we just kept reaching and throwing our hands in there, trying to hit balls that we couldn’t get,” freshman Jordan Prosser said.
Aside from Warren and Dunson, freshman Walt Lemon, Jr. was the lone player to break double figures for the Braves with 11 points.
“Walt is very talented and he’s very competitive,” Les said. “He continues to just get better week by week. I’ve asked him as a freshman to really just enjoy the process and the ride of just getting better.”
Prosser made his Braves’ debut after sitting out last year.
“I was trying to do the things coach said like screen, go to the opposite boards, all the stuff like that,” Prosser said. “I feel ok, I still have a lot left to work on.”
Warren was one of the few bright spots for the Braves as he scored 26 points and was four-for-eight from behind the arc in 38 minutes of play.
“[I] just worked to get open and got open shots,” Warren said. “Teammates kept penetrating and kicked to me, and I was open.”
Junior Will Egolf struggled from the field and the free throw line. He shot 3-13 and 2-5 respectively.
“Our focus all week, basically as a coaching staff, was pulling teeth and dragging the concentration and effort out of them,” Les said. “With as many veteran guys as we have, I’ve said before, they can’t get bored with the process that it takes to become good.”
Les said he believes the lack of effort against Quincy started at the top.
“We’ve talked about change in a lot of instances,” he said. “There were a number of instances [Friday night] where our senior leadership and our junior leadership were defensively, rebounding, physically wise, a very subpar effort. And that’s going to get you beat.”
The Braves open up the regular season at 8 p.m. tonight against Div. II Texas A&M-Kingsville at home in Carver Arena.
