Game Five Recap: Richmond vs. Bradley

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Every season has signature games — and this was one of them.

Bradley (3-2) used contributions from nine different players to beat a talented Richmond (3-2) team 80-66 on Wednesday. The win gets the Braves over .500 and playing with confidence as they return home to face East Tennessee State on Saturday at Carver Arena.

This game showed how the Braves will need to play in order to be successful this season:

* - Newcomer contributions: Bradley got 42 points from the guys only making their fifth official Division I game. Guards Dodie Dunson and Chris Roberts continue to show that they will be integral parts on this team. Dunson had 13 points, with most of these coming early in the game to help the Braves get off to a fast start. Roberts played well throughout, also scoring 13 and grabbing four rebounds.

Will Egolf started for the second straight game at center chipping in six points. The young player needs to cut down on his silly fouls, but he showed that the game against Florida Gulf Coast was no fluke.

Guard Eddren McCain had four points and ran the offense effectively when Sam Maniscalco was on the bench. Fellow 5'11" guard Darian Norris also looked good, hitting an important 3-pointer and scoring five points in all.

Not to be forgotten is forward Taylor Brown, whom radio voices Dave Snell and Chuck Buescher named the player of the game. Brown's final stat line included seven points, five rebounds, four assists and no turnovers.

* - Protect the basketball - Bradley significantly cut down on the amount of turnovers (11) and had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio (+1.72). The Braves took care of the ball so well that this number actually felt like less, but a few moving screen and offensive foul calls helped push up this number.

* - Play to your strengths - Bradley doesn't have as many great jump shooters as past seasons, so the Braves finally took the ball to the hoop much more often. A few players, like Maniscalco for instance, have the ability to knock down shots.

But, everyone struggles unless they have open looks at the basket. By making focusing on making entry passes into the post, Bradley forced the Spiders to sink down on defense, allowing for more open shots.

Similarly, when given an opportunity, both Egolf and forward Sam Singh showed they could make their opportunities near the basket if given the opportunity.

Other observations:

* - Wednesday was Maniscalco's 20th birthday. The sophomore played through a nagging foot problem and contributed 12 points, as well as team highs of six rebounds and six assists.

* - Forward Theron Wilson shot free throws better, knocking in 8-of-10 attempts. He will need to keep shooting at a 70 to 80 percent clip in order to maximize his effectiveness in getting to the hoop.

* - Dunson has embraced the role of guarding a team's most talented guard. He shadowed Richmond's David Gonzalvez, who had been shooting 62 percent from the floor in the Spiders first four games. Gonzalvez had few open looks and though he still had 16 points, that was only on 5-of-13 shooting.