Bradley University Athletics issued the following announcement on Jan. 22
The Bradley men's basketball team never trailed en route to its second-straight Missouri Valley Conference victory, earning a 70-62 win over Southern Illinois on Saturday night at Carver Arena. The Braves improve to 10-10 with the victory and 4-4 in conference play, while the Salukis drop to 10-9 overall and 3-4 versus Valley foes.
Sophomore Rienk Mast led Bradley with 20 points – on 9-of-13 shooting – and nine rebounds in the winning effort. Junior Terry Roberts added 18 points and matched a career high with seven assists, while junior Ville Tahvanainen chipped in 13 points off the bench for BU.
Bradley started the contest strong and scored on its first eight possessions of the game to grab an advantage it would never relinquish. Mast tallied seven points during the early 17-7 stretch to lead BU in the first five minutes of action.
The Salukis responded with a 7-0 run and tightened the contest for the remainder of the half. Southern Illinois pulled as close as a single point on three occasions in the opening stanza but the Braves had the response each time, including a Tahvanainen triple right before the break to give the hosts a 38-34 lead at the break.
A strong start on offense stretched the Bradley lead before the team's defense took over for the win. Bradley outscored Southern Illinois, 10-2, to open the period to pull in front by 12 points, 48-36. From there, the Braves would not allow the Salukis any closer than seven points as BU limited SIU to just 29.4 percent shooting in the second 20 minutes of action after making 54.5 percent in the first half.
Bradley finished with the game by shooting 47.4 percent in the winning effort with a 6-of-14 mark from 3-point range. The Braves also held the Salukis to 39.3 percent shooting and a 5-of-19 clip from beyond the arc.
The Braves look to carry their winning ways on the road with a trip to Valparaiso on Wednesday. First tip is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Game Notes: Mast has scored at least 20 points in three of the last five games after doing so once in his first 43 career games Mast is averaging 18.3 points in his last six games after posting 7.8 in the season's first 14 contests … Roberts also collected seven assists in a win against Evansville on Jan. 12 … Tahvanainen made 3-of-4 3-pointers in the win and is now shooting 46.8 percent from distance in victories (23.8 percent in defeats) … Bradley has held its opponent under its season average in field goal percentage in 17-of-20 games this season.
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up