Bradley won the Missouri Valley Conference tournament this season for the first time since 1988 and for the first time ever in St. Louis. The win was the program’s third conference tournament championship.
The Braves did not make it easy on themselves to win the tournament. Coming in as the No. 5 seed, Bradley was not expected to emerge victorious on Sunday.
In the end, Bradley defeated No. 6 seed Northern Iowa in comeback fashion on Sunday by a score of 57-54. It was largest comeback in tournament history.
Every game of the tournament for Bradley was decided by three points or less. The first team the Braves sent home was No. 4 Missouri State. The game came down to the final minute when Missouri State’s Keandre Cook took a three-pointer to take the lead with 15 seconds left, but sophomore Elijah Childs got a hand on it.
“I knew Cook was going to shoot it, so I had to get my hands up and get out there quickly,” Childs said. “He had a pretty good look, and if I didn’t jump I knew he was going to make it.”
The Braves came away with the ball and went on to win the game 61-58.
The victory over Missouri State set up a rematch between Bradley and Loyola-Chicago, the regular season champion and a NCAA Final Four team a year ago.
The Braves came out of the gate ready to take on the Ramblers and led 25-22 at halftime. The Braves held on to their lead to win 53-51 by shutting down Larry Bird MVC Player of the Year Marques Townes and the 2018 recipient Clayton Custer.
“Those two senior guards [Loyola has] are winners and very good players, but this [win] isn’t a shock to us,” Wardle said.
The first half of the UNI game did not go Bradley’s way. They found themselves down 12 points, 27-15, at halftime. The Braves needed a hot start out of the locker room, but the Panthers pushed their lead to 18 around the 17-minute mark. It seemed as though UNI would claim its sixth MVC championship and Bradley would remain with two.
“They came out on fire,” Wardle said. “They were making some shots. They had a lot of momentum.”
Panthers freshman guard AJ Green nearly willed his team to victory with 23 points. He was named the MVC Freshman of the Year. When Bradley seemed to be down to its final 17 minute of the season, senior Luqman Lundy stepped up. Lundy tallied a quick 11 points on a Bradley 17-3 run that cut UNI’s lead to four.
“I just tried to be aggressive and play my game,” Lundy said. “I trusted my teammates and myself.”
Senior Luuk van Bree said he was proud of his team’s fight in the UNI game and throughout the season.
“Coach never let us have any shortcuts,” van Bree said. “[We] probably made it as hard on ourselves as we possibly could, but we stuck with it.”
Childs was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player with 16 points, five rebounds and three blocks in the championship game. The Braves’ victory solidified the first NCAA tournament appearance since the program’s Sweet 16 run in 2006.
It was the first conference tournament championship since 1988, a game played in Peoria with many Bradley fans in attendance. The victory was Bradley’s 20th on the season and brought its overall record to 20-14.
