PEORIA, Ill. – Missouri State’s Vincent Brady II went for a career-high 29, points, but home-standing Bradley held off the visiting Bears, 69-60, here Saturday in MVC play in the only regular-season meeting between the two foes.
Bradley (13-2, 4-0 MVC) became the lone unbeaten team in Missouri Valley play, getting double-digit scoring from four starters, including 18 from Darius Hannah, who also snagged a game-high 9 rebounds and made 7-of-10 field goals.
The Bears got 13 points in 13 minutes from freshman Makhai Valentine who scored the final eight points for Missouri State (7-8, 0-4 MVC).
The Bears kept things close until the midway point of the second half when Bradley used a 9-2 surge to transform a four-point advantage into a 50-39 lead with 8:14 to go. After a Chase Martin bucket with just over 11 minutes to play drew MoState within 41-37, BU collected three buckets over the next three minutes to spark the rally.
Brady kept the Bears in the hunt, matching his career-high 27th point on his third dunk of the night with 2:40 to play. He had 9-of-11 MSU points over a key six-minute stretch and finished the game 12-of-21 from the field, including three triples and a team-high 8 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Bradley built its biggest lead of the night on a Christian Davis three-pointer with 1:17 to go. He had 17 points for the Braves on 5-of-5 field goals.
For the game, the Bears finished 24-of-63 (.381) from the field, 7-of-31 (.226) from long range and 5-of-13 (.385) at the stripe with just eight turnovers and nine steals.
Bradley was 22-of-45 (.489) overall from the field, 7-for-20 (.350) from distance and 18-for-20 (.900) in a difference-making effort at the foul line. The Braves out-rebounded the Bears, 37-32, and blocked seven MSU shots.
In the first half, the Bears used an 8-0 run late in the period to turn a 27-20 deficit into a one-point lead. Three-pointers from White and Brady preceded a high-arching layup off the glass from Brady made it a 28-27 contest with 32 seconds left before the intermission. However, Bradley answered with a triple from the top of the key by Corey Thomas just before the buzzer to give the Braves a 30-28 lead.
Brady scored 13 points in the opening 20 minutes, while the Bears forced 9 turnovers and snatched 6 steals in that span.
Missouri State returns to Great Southern Bank Arena on Tuesday (Jan. 7) to host UIC at 7 p.m.
