Game Fourteen Recap: Bradley @ Missouri State

63	57

Bradley completed a two game road sweep by gritting out another tough victory at Missouri State 63-57. The win kept the Braves (9-5, 3-0) perfect in conference play, setting up a Tuesday showdown for first place against rival Illinois State. The Bears dropped to 7-7 overall and 0-3 in conference games.

Previous Jim Les coached teams would have probably lost this game, especially considering a major disadvantage in rebounding as well as lousy officiating. But credit the Bradley head coach for making some key adjustments down the stretch in order to secure another road win.

After getting beat badly on the glass for 35 minutes and the Bears scoring at will in the post during the second half, Les switched to a 1-3-1 zone. The defensive change confused Missouri State and slowed its offense to a halt for the remaining five minutes.

The first 20 minutes had a grinding feel. For as poorly as Bradley rebounded on the defensive side, Missouri State shot even worse. The Bears hit just 8-of-32 shot attempts (25 percent) and trailed 33-24 at halftime.

As most home teams do though, Missouri State made a run at the Braves. The Bears repeatedly fed their post players and whittled Bradley's lead completely away by the 8-minute mark.

Bradley surely would have lost this game if it weren't for guard Chris Roberts, who had his best game as a Brave. The junior scored 14 of Bradley's first 21 points in the second half, knocking down important shot after important shot. He finished the game with 22 points, four blocks, three rebounds and three steals.

But even with Roberts' standout performance, the game was tied at 54 with 2 1/2 minutes to play. Good teams knock down free throws in the final minutes and the Braves did just that, hitting 9-of-10 attempts when it really mattered.

Team leaders Sam Maniscalco and Theron Wilson didn't have their best games of the season. But both made intelligent plays on both ends of the floor near the end of the game that put the Braves over the top. Wilson was the only other Bradley player to finish in double figures with 12.

Other observations:

* - This game was one of the most poorly officiated in recent memory. Bradley got the benefit of some soft calls in the first half and Missouri State got that treatment in the last 20 minutes. Players and coaches just ask for consistency and that aspect wasn't on display for this one.

Bradley was whistled for two technical fouls, one on Les and one on forward/center Sam Singh. The latter came after a questionable foul call after Singh tried to force a jump ball. A quick technical was called as well, giving Singh his fourth and fifth fouls. The disqualification didn't look warranted for Singh's on-the-court actions.

* - Speaking of Singh, this was his last time to play close to home. The senior hails from Ozark, MO, which is only 25 minutes away from Springfield. He joined the post-game show on WMBD and definitely had a lot of emotion coming from this game. Singh gave a great deal of credit to fellow big man David Collins for holding down the paint after he fouled out.

Next game:

The War on 74 resumes as Illinois State travels to Peoria to face Bradley on Tuesday. Both teams are now 3-0 in conference as Illinois State easily beat conference favorite Creighton 86-64 in Normal.

The Redbirds also boast a gaudy 14-0 record, which until the wins over Creighton and surprising Evansville, had very few good opponents on their schedule. Illinois State definitely is for real and should pose a huge challenge for Bradley.

Make no mistake about it — all records should be thrown out for this one. Every Bradley-ISU game has added intensity. The only unfortunate part will be that the Bradley students will still be on break for this one, so hopefully the rest of the crowd will pick up the slack for them.