The two Bradley big men led the way for the Braves en route to a 74-65 win over Jacksonville State at Carver Arena Wednesday night. It was the first game of the domestic portion of the Cancun Challenge tournament.
Junior center Koch Bar helped the Braves get off to a great start, scoring 16 of his career high 20 points in the first half. Bar showed confidence in the post once again as he’s led all Bradley scorers in two of the team’s first three games.
“I thought he just played with great composure,” head coach Brian Wardle said. “Every time he caught it he knew what he wanted to do. He was confident in his jump hook. When Koch is giving us points like that it’s a big advantage for us.”
In the second half, sophomore Elijah Childs took the reins, scoring 11 of his 15 points down the stretch.
“In the first half, Koch gave us a spark and I knew I had to pick up the second half so that’s what we did,” Childs said. “Our guards did a great job of feeding us the ball, it was just up to us to make a play.”
Bradley’s two bigs also bolstered a strong defensive effort, shutting down Jacksonville State’s leading scorer on the season, Jason Burnell, to five points on the night, none of which came in the paint.
“He was a key on our scouting report, so we know he was a good post presence and was coming off some good games so we just tried to slow him down,” Childs said.
All of Bradley’s starters finished in double figures for the first time this season. Junior guard Darrell Brown scored 11 points, while junior guard Nate Kennell and senior guard Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye each chipped in 10 points a piece.
“As the season plays out, someone might take the rein as that go-to guy but I think we have a bunch of guys that have hot hands,” Wardle said. “I think we’re one of those teams where our depth could allow us to have a different leading scorer a lot, and that’s fine as long as we have consistent play in the other areas.”
Bradley allowed the Gamecocks to creep in close towards the end of the game. The margin was down to seven points with 1:15 to go, but the Braves continued to attack the defense and get to the free-throw line.
“We’ve got to learn how to close these games a little better,” Wardle said. “Play smarter, play more disciplined and then execute on the offensive end. If we can learn those things, we’ll keep improving.”
Bar put the exclamation point on the end of the game when Darrell Brown found him all alone down court for a breakaway dunk plus the foul. That put the Braves up by 10 with 24 seconds to go and sealed another win in Bradley’s perfect 3-0 start.
“Like they say… Kaboom!” Bar said. “I loved that.”
Freshman forward Ja’Shon Henry did not dress for the game. Wardle said Henry hurt his hip flexor in practice and will be day-to-day, but hopes to be back as soon as possible.
The Braves will travel to Chicago on Saturday to face UIC, before heading down to Cancun, Mexico for the rest of the Cancun Challenge tournament where their first game will be against SMU on Nov. 20.
