In an 80-58 loss to Missouri State on Saturday night in Springfield, Bradley men’s basketball played like it was missing four of its best players.
Because they were.
Less than an hour before tip-off, Bradley announced that seniors Elijah Childs and Danya Kingsby and juniors Ja’Shon Henry and Terry Nolan Jr. would be suspended for both games of the Braves’ series with the Bears due to “violations of team standards.”
“There’s program standards,” Bradley head coach Brian Wardle said. “When you violate those standards, it’s pretty easy to make those decisions… Hopefully, we can learn and grow as a group.”
The suspensions left gaping holes in the Braves’ rotation. Childs (14.2 PPG), Nolan (11.2) and Henry (10.7) are the team’s top three scorers, while Kingsby has played an average of 19.4 minutes per game.
With the three starters and one key bench player absent, freshman guard Jayson Kent, freshman forward Darrius Hannah and sophomore guard Ville Tahvanainen slid into the starting lineup. Alongside junior guard Kevin McAdoo and redshirt freshman Rienk Mast, the five gave the team a jolt to start the game.
The Braves opened the game with a 9-2 run in the first 15:49 of the game.
“We started well, we started tough,” Tahvanainen said. “We had good ball pressure, good gap help … we were protecting each other.”
However, from that point on, the Bears outscored Bradley 42-17 for the rest of the half and never looked back to take the 22-point victory.
“I think we got a little tired,” Tahvanainen said. “We got less ball pressure, their offense got a little easier and we let them get going.”
The loss drops BU to a 5-9 record in Missouri Valley Conference play, good enough for 7th place. If the season ended today, the Braves would square off with last-place Illinois State in the Thursday quarterfinal round of Arch Madness.
Despite the loss and off the floor difficulties, Wardle knows that this weekend’s series presents a valuable opportunity for the underclassmen on the roster.
“It’s another opportunity to get them a lot of minutes, especially in an arena with fans,” Wardle said.
Tahvanainen and Hannah were the only Braves to tally double-figures, scoring 13 and 10 points, respectively.
While the Braves held Bears’ leading scorer Isiah Mosley to a quiet four points, the damage was done by other culprits.
Sophomore guard Ja’Monta Black led all scorers with 24 points, including seven 3-pointers. Senior forward Gage Prim dominated Bradley inside, scoring 20 points while missing just two of his 11 shots.
After the shorthanded loss, can the Braves bounce back tomorrow with the same lineup?
Brian Wardle thinks so.
“I definitely think we can compete at a higher level,” Wardle said. “We’ve got to put them in a tough spot. All you’ve got to do is be better for two hours, and I think we have the ability to do that. But we’ve got to play smarter, we’ve got to play a little more competitive in some areas … That’s what we’ve got to figure out tonight.”
The tip-off of the second game of the series is set for tomorrow at 3 p.m.
