Isiaih Mosley hit a three-pointer as time expired to give Missouri State a 71-69 win over Bradley on Wednesday night.
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ISIAIH MOSLEY FOR THE WIN AT THE BUZZER‼️ @ValleyHoops @MSUBearsHoops pic.twitter.com/SdQgHCJ9ho
— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) January 6, 2022
PEORIA, Ill. – Isiaih Mosley’s offensive rebound and 3-pointer from the right wing as time expired lifted Missouri State (11-5, 2-1 MVC) to a 71-69 win over Bradley here Wednesday, capping a thrilling Missouri Valley Conference contest.
Mosley’s dramatics capped a gripping final two minutes at Carver Arena that saw the Braves (7-8, 1-2) take the lead twice in the final 72 seconds after trailing by as many as 18 in the second half.
A 3-pointer by Ja’Monta Black with 49 seconds remaining – his fourth of the game – gave the Bears a 68-67 lead on the heels of Jayson Kent’s layup for BU moments earlier. Kent got the ball again on Bradley’s next possession and buried two free throws with 24 ticks to play to put the Braves ahead, 69-68.
But on the final possession of the night, Lu’Cye Patterson got deep into the lane for a driving layup off the glass only to see his shot just carom off the rim. Gaige Prim got a hand on the 50-50 rebound and directed the ball to Mosley who snagged it, created some space and let it fly from 23 feet, splashing home nothing but net as the horn sounded.
Patterson finished with a game-high and career-high 20 points for the Bears, while Black scored 17, and Mosley added 11. Prim posted 8 points and a team-high 7 rebounds.
Bradley was led by Kent’s 18 points, while Malevy Leons tallied 16. The Braves produced 11 3-pointers on the night, including three apiece from Rienk Mast and Ville Tahvanainen.
The late-game heroics seemed unnecessary earlier in the half as the Bears stormed out of the locker room with a 12-2 run to build their biggest lead of the night, 53-35 with 17:26 remaining in the game. By the under-16 media timeout, Bradley had closed the gap to 12, and later MSU’s lead dwindled to 56-51 after a long two-point jumper from Kent initially looked like BU’s fifth 3-pointer in a five-minute span.
Missouri State, which had just one free throw attempt in the second half, got stabilizing baskets by Patterson and Donovan Clay to give the Bears some breathing room late in the half. But after Clay’s bucket made it 60-54, the Bears went more than six minutes with just Isaac Haney’s corner 3-pointer to show for it in the scoring column.
A layup by Leons with three minutes to go gave the Braves their first lead since 8-7, but an eerie foreshadowing then saw Mosley dash to the rim for a clutch bucket to tie things up, 65-65, with 1:53 to play. It remained that way until Kent’s free throws at the 1:12 mark started the exciting game-ending, scoring rally.
In winning its third straight, Missouri State finished 29-of-60 (.483) from the field, 9-for-25 (.360) from distance and 4-for-4 at the foul line. The Bears out-rebounded Bradley by a narrow, 31-30 margin, and committed 14 turnovers, including nine in the second stanza.
Coach Dana Ford’s squad also scored 40 of its points in the paint.
Bradley was 24-of-51 (.471) overall, 11-for-25 (.440) from bonus range, and 10-for-15 (.667) at the line with 14 turnovers.
In the opening half, the Bears shot 52 percent from the field and got 11 points from Black to lead 41-33 at the midway point.
Missouri State buried four 3-pointers in the opening stanza while forcing 10 Bradley turnovers. Keaton Hervey’s 3-pointer with 1:58 left in the period gave the Bears their biggest lead to that point, 41-25, before the Braves rallied for the final eight points of the period. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Trahvanainen set up a steal and dunk by Kent before the buzzer to get the home team back in it.
The Bears return to JQH Arena Saturday against Northern Iowa at 5 p.m. for a nationally-televised game on CBS Sports Network.
