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Henry, Braves survive second half scare from Valparaiso

Darrell Brown dribbles near center-court in Bradley’s victory over Valparaiso. Photo by Kayla Johnson

After watching a 17-point second half lead whither down to just two with 3:08 to go, Bradley was able to slam the door on Valparaiso in a 80-69 victory at Carver Arena Wednesday night. 

Sophomore forward Ja’Shon Henry helped Bradley seal the deal. He completed the Braves’ second-to-last field goal of the night off of his own miss to extend the lead back to eight. 

Seeing Henry miss wasn’t a common occurrence throughout the evening, and seeing him score was. The 6-foot 6-inch Saskatonian cashed in a career-high 21 points on 7-9 shooting. He didn’t miss a field goal until the 1:55 mark of the second half. 

Despite his lights-out shooting performance, Henry was quick to give away the glory. 

“Credit our guards, and [Darrell Brown] especially,” Henry said. 

Brown had quite the night himself, scoring 17 points to go with five assists in his return from missing the last two games with a lower-leg injury. Sporting a headband for the first time this season, the senior guard expected to empty the gas tank. 

“It was good [to be back] … I’m tired, man,” Brown said with a smile. “I knew I was gonna be sweating a lot since I missed a week.” 

After playing just seven players in Saturday’s loss at Indiana State, Bradley utilized a nine-player rotation with the return of Brown and freshman Ville Tahvanainen. The difference was notable in the final box score, as five Braves scored double-figures. 

Freshman Ville Tahvanainen soars over a Valparaiso defender towards the bucket in Wednesday’s game. Photo by Kayla Johnson

“It’s for sure a big difference, especially having DB back, it’s big-time,” Henry said. “He changes the game so much and influences so much in a positive way. Especially having rotations and being able to play with our normal lineups, it’s definitely a bonus.” 

Valparaiso was able to stick around thanks to their defense that leads the league in steals. This game was no different, as the Crusaders forced 18 Braves turnovers and scored 20 points off the miscues. 

“They switch and they gamble and they make you think a lot on offense,” Bradley head coach Brian Wardle said. “No doubt, Valpo causes problems, but we made some errant post feeds … I think there’s a lot of passes where we’ll see that we’ve got to be smarter with.”

“You can definitely tell they lead the league in steals,” Brown said. “We turned the ball over a lot, played right into their hands, and helped them come back, really.” 

Of Bradley’s 18 turnovers, five were committed in the last 11:20 of the game, which allowed Valparaiso to make a move in the late stages, quieting the Peoria faithful. 

“I thought we got to that point because we guarded,” Valpo head coach Matt Lottich said. “We were really playing downhill, and I thought we got them on their heels a little bit. I just didn’t think we executed great in that last segment there and I thought Bradley did.” 

The victory moves the Braves to 6-3 in Missouri Valley play, good for a three-way tie with Loyola and Southern Illinois for second place halfway through the conference slate. 

The Braves are pleased with their position and are confident after hurdling multiple obstacles thrown at them 

“I like where we’re at, especially with what we’ve been through and the adversity we’ve had to fight,” Wardle said. “We just got to keep enjoying each other and enjoying the journey and finding ways to improve without practicing much … we gotta be smart.”

“I think we had a chip on our shoulder from the beginning of conference play with people saying we weren’t going to be able to win without Eli [Childs],” Brown said. “Just playing together and being great teammates to each other and working hard constantly, it always pays off in the end … I think as long as we stay together and keep working, the sky will be the limit for us.” 

Bradley will have a shot to knock-off a fellow title contender when it heads to Loyola on Saturday for the first matchup of the season between the in-state rivals. The Ramblers are coming off a 68-63 road loss to Southern Illinois on Wednesday evening.  

The game starts a tough two-game road swing for the Braves, as they will travel to Des Moines to face Drake next Wednesday. Loyola is 9-2 at Gentile Arena, while Drake boasts an 11-0 record on their home court. 

Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. at Loyola on Saturday night and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.

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