Bradley basketball is hot once again folks. Just days after putting the beat down on Missouri State, Bradley welcomed the Evansville Aces to town and routed them.
The Braves started the game on an 11-2 run, coming from a made three from grad senior Malevy Leons and two made threes from freshman Almar Atlason, who’s in the starting five for the third straight game.
The game proceeded to get shaky for the Braves as some questionable defense and bad shot selection shrank the lead to only four at the next media timeout. Bradley then proceeded to flip the script, thanks to nine points by freshman Demarion Burch including a filthy dunk on the fast break to make the score 32-21 Braves and they didn’t look back.
A few jumpers in the paint from Christain Davis (my king) and a three from Missouri Valley player of the week Connor Hickman, and the lead was up to 15 going into the half.
Outside of putting up 41 in the half, the Braves grabbed 17 rebounds, along with three blocks and six steals, which shows how on-point the defense was.
Into the second half, it was a slow start for Bradley, who didn’t score there first basket until 15:34 left when Demarion Burch hit a jumper to make it 43-29. Bradley was kept scoreless for the next 3 minutes until a made three by Christian Davis. And then what felt like the dagger on any chance the Aces had to win, a missed three by Chuck Bailey which led to a Kaboom by our guy Christain Davis!
By then, the game was out of reach for the Aces as the Braves were up 54-33 with 11:32 left.
Another made basket from Christain Davis and a fast break thre from Duke Deen led to another Kaboom from the king himself Darius Hannah.
Another Duke Deen 3 followed by a three by our favorite walk on Cade Hardtke made the score 70-40 Braves. At this point, you have to note how the Braves have hit 12 threes and 12 steals with 6 minutes still to go in the game. Absolute domination from the boys, and it’s beautiful to see.
One more made three from Malevy Leons and another kaboom from Darius Hannah later and the game was confidently out of reach for the Aces.
Enter the benchwarmers. Connor Linke scored his first points of the season after grabbing an offensive rebound and the put-back for the layup.
Gonar Bilnew grabbed a late board at the end of the game which led to the Braves' last made basket of the night (arguably the biggest one) in a Sam Hennessy three, his first points of the season.
And on that note, the Braves win 86-50.
Demarion Burch and Christian Davis lead the way with 13 points each (a career-high for Burch), along with 11 points from Duke Deen, Malevy Leons, and Almar Atlason. Connor Hickman had a respectable nine along with eight from Darius Hannah. Leons and Hannah each snagged seven rebounds, while Christain Davis had 5. Leons also secured two steaks along with four from Davis, who is my player of the game.
The Braves shot 53.3% from FG and 45.2% from the three-point line, compared to 37.8% and 23.5% from the Aces. Bradley goes on the road for two games, the first being up against UIC on Saturday. Go Braves!
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