After a lethargic and underwhelming first half, Bradley men’s basketball was down by 21 points and in risk of losing their six-game win streak.
“It’s a little embarrassing, you don’t want to go out like that so you just got to give your best effort and see what happens,” junior Connor Hickman said.
After scoring an average of 80 points during their six game run, the idea of being down by more than 20 was something foreign to the Braves as of late.
What was everyone looking for in the second half? A response. Like a well placed stepping stone on a rock wall, Bradley needed something to hang on to.
“I was not trying to be sitting on that bus for five hours sad,” senior Duke Deen said.
Bradley (13-5, 5-2 MVC) climbed out of that 21-point deficit, with their veteran players stepping up when it mattered the most to beat the Southern Illinois Salukis (12-6, 4-3 MVC) 70-69. The Braves had three players with 15 points as Deen, Hickman and graduate senior Malevy Leons led the Braves to the biggest comeback in program history.
Despite getting the first few points on the board, the Braves were sluggish and uncharacteristic of their ‘full steam ahead’ approach. The sluggish start was coupled with efficiency on the Southern Illinois side, as Bradley allowed them to constantly find their way to the post and convert 18 points in the paint in the first half.
After the Salukis took a quick 13-6 lead, Bradley head coach Brian Wardle called for a timeout. With 16:42 left in the half, the Salukis kept attacking, this time resulting in a 10-0 run.
“They’re very competitive, they’re very physical and they’re always a very good defensive team,” Wardle said. “It’s hard to win here, and we’ve had a lot of close wins here and it’s always a back and forth battle.”
The Braves pride themselves in bringing a heightened level of physicality to their game, but that wasn’t the way things panned out in the first half as they faced an equally physical Southern Illinois team.
“The Banterra Center is a tough place to play, in my three years here it’s always been a close and tight game, so you know what you’re going to get when you come in here,” Hickman said. “You’re going to get a grind out game and I thought their physicality took us out of what we were supposed to be doing in the first half.”
The night grew darker for the Braves as the Salukis nurtured a 7-0 run with 11:11 left. Down 27-11, the Braves’ main antagonist was the nation’s second leading scorer, Xavier Johnson. The graduate senior scored 12 points in the first half, going 5-8 from the field and stringing together seven assists.
“In the first half he was very comfortable, I thought the second half we contained him a little bit better,” Hickman said.
With Bradley unable to find any solutions on defense and finding little rhythm on offense, Southern Illinois took their first 20-point advantage at 38-18 with 4:48 left in the first half. Generating another 8-0 run close to the end, the Braves left for the locker room trailing in their first game since Cleveland State over a month ago.
“The defensive keys, we didn’t execute any of them in the first half,” Wardle said. “Defensively we looked lost.”
The Saluki lead would grow to 23 before the Braves found their way to the line for their first run of the second half. While the Braves kept pushing to change their fate, Southern Illinois kept pace by finding their way to the line themselves.
Freshman Almar Atlason and sophomore Kyle Thomas came into the game to provide a much needed boost. After a couple of Atlason free throws, Thomas brought down a dunk to bring the game to 50-33 with 15:36 left. Despite the score not getting any better, the Braves kept chipping away at the deficit.
“I kept looking at the score and I kept seeing it getting closer and closer, and a big play after big play just got us back into the game,” Leons said.
The big plays certainly helped as Bradley went on a 14-5 run over the next four minutes, bringing the game within eight with 11:16 to go. The tide started to turn as the Braves fed off Southern Illinois passiveness on defensive.
“They started playing a little tight, a little tentative, they were playing to not give up the lead,” Hickman said.
Still, the Salukis kept trying to salvage their once 23-point lead with a couple of successful layups, bringing the game back to 63-49. Crashing the boards proved to work for Southern Illinois, as they grabbed 31 rebounds throughout the game to counter Bradley’s 24.
Continuing to chip away at the lead, Hannah and Deen brought the game back within reach, converting a dunk and a three respectively. Now down by three, a loose ball and a fastbreak teleported the ball to Hickman, who buried his second 3-pointer while tying the game for the Braves with 2:26 left.
Trading layups to keep the game in the balance, Hickman took his time as he drove through an empty key for an easy layup, drawing a foul in the process. Now leading by two, Hickman buried his free throw giving the Braves a 70-67 lead with less than a minute left.
As the game slipped past their grasp, Southern Illinois earned two trips to the line, bringing the game within one. With 10 seconds left and the final possession of the game in the hands of Johnson, the most important shot of the Salukis’ night came up short, giving Bradley the victory.
“I knew we were going to catch one of their best efforts and we did and in the second half we were playing to win,” Wardle said. “That’s when I go back and watch film on and really just look back and say wow that was an incredible comeback and win for this group.”
Despite trailing for nearly 37 minutes, the Braves found something to hang on to and didn’t stop climbing, even when the task at hand seemed insurmountable. However, the Braves won’t have much time to rest as they host the Belmont Bruins this Saturday at Carver Arena.
