Bittersweet victory for Braves in home opener

69	74

Post-game discussion should have been focused on Bradley (1-1) wining its home opener Sunday against a relentless Idaho State (0-2) team, 74-69. But instead, the Braves will have to deal with the loss of yet another player to injury.

Senior guard Dodie Dunson will miss the remainder of the season after breaking two bones in his left forearm during a painful two-play sequence in the second half of Sunday's game.

First, Dunson tried to make a steal and crashed hard to the floor with Idaho State's Donnie Carson. On the next possession, Dunson slashed down the baseline and the Bengals' Austin Kilpatrick bumped him in the air and the Bradley senior fell awkwardly onto his arm with 12:28 left.

He laid on the floor in obvious pain and needed assistance to get up and head to the locker room. Dunson is expected to make a full recovery and will apply for a medical redshirt in order to return to the Braves lineup in 2010-11.

The scary incident really overshadowed what had been a great game for Dunson. He finished the game with as the team's co-leader in points with 16, making 4-of-6 attempts from 3-point range. After Bradley got down 10-4 early, Dunson had 14 of the Braves next 19 points, helping the team turn a six-point deficit into a six-point lead, 23-17.

The talented duo of Broderick Gilchrest (19 points, 4 assists) and Amorrow Morgan (18 points, 4 rebounds) consistently kept the Bengals in the game. Though these guards were indeed talented, the Braves had too many breakdowns where they got beat one-on-one defensively.

The contribution from freshman guard Dyricus Simms-Edwards stood out more than any other player in the game. Simms-Edwards had a night where he really filled up the stat sheet: 12 points, two rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal.

He aggressively took the ball to the hoop and finished strong on multiple occasions. Simms-Edwards also knocked down two critical free throws that gave Bradley a 64-63 lead it would never relinquish. He capped off the stellar effort by making an acrobatic save of a ball going out of bounds to junior guard Sam Maniscalco in the final minute.

Like any freshman, Simms-Edwards will likely have his moments where he struggles. But if he can provide an effort like this on a consistent basis, the loss of Dunson (at least in an on-the-court manner) will be greatly lessened.

The other Bradley guards also had good games, with junior Andrew Warren leading the way with 16 points. His slashing ability looked sharp and opened up many good looks from his accurate mid-range game.

Senior Chris Roberts had 12 points, including an important three-point play to extend the Braves' lead to 67-63. And even though he had a bad shooting night, Maniscalco hit a big 3-pointer on the next possession to extend the lead out to five points. The junior had 13 points on 3-of-11 shooting.

Lack of interior presence

The Braves played its second straight game without Taylor Brown, who was serving his final game of a suspension. Without the team's best rebounder, it clearly had an effect on Bradley's performance on the glass. Idaho State won the rebounding battle 36-26 with 17 coming on the offensive side of the court.

This disadvantage resulted in 42 points in the paint and 21 second-chance points for the Bengals. Surely some of the problem can be attributed to Brown's absence, but this aspect simply has to get better if Bradley is going to win on a consistent basis.

Head coach Jim Les' four-guard lineup may have been out of necessity but this just isn't a recipe for winning games. Sophomore Will Egolf and senior Sam Singh grabbed four rebounds each, but this just isn't enough when the Braves are playing such small ball.

Hopefully Egolf will continue to improve and Bradley can get something out of young players like Milos Knezevic and Anthony Thompson. The Braves have size on the roster for once but it is uncertain how the rotation will shake out as the season goes on.

Next up for Bradley

The Braves will have a week off and play again Sunday against the Wofford Terriers. Who? Well, a team most fans probably haven't heard of took Pittsburgh down to the wire before losing 63-60 on the road.

True, Pittsburgh is very inexperienced and likely will take time to gel as a team. But, any team that can go into an environment like that cannot be taken lightly. Unlike Bradley, Wofford will be playing its third game in six days when it comes to Peoria.

Interestingly enough, Wofford also started four guards in its last game, so that would appear to favor Bradley. A full preview will be coming soon.

(Note: Due to the game recap being pushed back to tonight, I will be publishing my first conference ratings tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 17.)