If Bradley men’s basketball had a lucky number right now, it would be 86, as they have put exactly 86 points on the board in their last three games.
“When we get rolling, we’re just running up and down and it’s a lot of fun,” redshirt junior Christian Davis said.
In their rampant 86-50 victory over Evansville, the Braves once again showed their offensive power while solidifying their defensive fortitude. While Evansville (10-6, 1-4 MVC) set their sights on their first win in three games, Bradley (11-5, 3-2 MVC) looked to add another victory to their previous four.
The 36-point differential was made possible by the Braves shooting 52 percent from the field in the first half and 55 percent in the second half. Past the perimeter, the Braves made 14 of their 31 attempts from beyond the arc.
While it was a fun night for the Braves on the court, it was also a special night for Bradley head coach Brian Wardle who, by defeating Evansville, broke into the top five of Bradley coaches in Missouri Valley wins. Wardle passed former Braves coach Jim Les’s 74 wins and now stands six wins away from the legendary Dick Versace.
It didn’t take long for the Braves to make the first move as graduate senior Malevy Leons inflicted the first bit of damage with an open 3-pointer. Leons sank three shots from beyond the arc and went 3-6 from the field for his 11 points.
Once Bradley got the lead, they didn’t let go, going on an 11-2 run in the first five minutes of the encounter.
While freshman Demarion Burch scored a career high 13 points, going 5-5 from the field while making a shot from beyond the arc, it was his defensive role that has given him minutes on the court in his first collegiate season.
“I feel like I got a big defensive role on the team and that’s what keeps me on the floor, that’s what got me on the floor,” Burch said. “Just playing hard defense and competing against the older guys and that just motivates me.”
During that run, another freshman was spearheading the attack with two consecutive threes. In his third consecutive start, Almar Atlason put up 11 points while draining three treys in the process.
While Burch and Atlason’s collegiate careers are still in their infancy, Wardle believes his younger players are becoming important offensive assets.
“They’re getting more comfortable out on the floor, they’re offensive weapons for us in a way and they’re getting better defensively so that’s a big step,” Wardle said.
While the Evansville defense started to bend, they wouldn’t break as they generated a couple of stops and converted them on the other side of the court for a 7-2 run to bring the game within three with 9:24 left in the first half.
As the Purple Aces started rising, Leons gave Bradley and Carver Arena some much needed breathing room as he drained his second three of the night, putting the game at 21-15 with 8:49 to go.
The extra oxygen would be limited as Evansville continued to mount back into the game with forward Yacine Toumi executing a floating jump shot to once again bring the Purple Aces within three. With a score of 24-21 and 6:08 left in the first half, the Braves countered the opposition’s forward momentum with a 16-5 run to end the first half up 41-26.
“A lot of positive energy, a lot of good talk, a lot of good player accountability going on in the huddles and on the bench,” Wardle said. “I think any time you have that, good things can happen.”
While the points flowed freely in the first half, that well would run dry for the first four minutes of the second half as the Braves found it difficult to land a hit on the Purple Aces.
“We missed a few shots right at the beginning of the second half but I mean we knew they were going to get some good looks when we weren’t,” Davis said.
With the Evansville defense producing stops all over the floor, Burch once again broke through the lull for the Braves’ first few points of the half. Driving through the lane, Burch turned back and released a shot that bounced off the rim and in.
With a 45-31 advantage over Evansville, Davis increased the distance as he buried a three and let out a dunk to give the Braves their largest lead up to that point. Davis tied Burch in scoring with 13 points, going 5-10 from the field.
“Everytime we get the defense going, the bench gets going and it’s hard not to make shots when we’re locking them up, ” Davis said.
After his incredible performances in the last two games against Valparaiso and Missouri State, junior Connor Hickman was once again putting on a show at Carver. Stepping forward and back, Hickman made the court look like a dance floor as Evansville’s Chuck Bailey III slipped on his feet to the amusement of the Bradley faithful.
Two aggressive dunks from Hannah followed as the Braves started running out of the Purple Aces grasp. With the game at 76-46, the Braves went on another 10-0 run before the rest of the Bradley bench started to join in.
With less than a minute left in the game, junior Sam Hennessy brought down the final three points for the Braves and his first points this season. After a 91-46 victory last season, the Braves once again defeated Evansville convincingly.
The Braves head north to face Illinois-Chicago (8-8, 1-4 MVC) today at 1 p.m.
