UPDATED 8:25 P.M.
PEORIA, Ill. – After nearly three decades, the Bradley Braves are regular season champions.
The Braves men’s basketball team won the outright Missouri Valley Conference title on Sunday by defeating Drake at home, 73-61. The game was announced as a sell-out just before the game.
Redshirt Junior Rienk Mast recorded a double-double in the game, getting 12 points and 13 rebounds to go with 3 assists. Sophmore Connor Hickman was the leading scorer in the game, getting 19 points that was assisted by going 4-5 from 3 point range. Senior Malevy Leons added 12 points himself.
The turning point in the game was a 15-0 run by the Braves, after Drake took a 41-40 lead with 16 minutes left in the game. The Braves never trailed again after that.
Coach Brian Wardle says both sides of the ball were pivotal in securing the win, and the conference championship.
“You gotta have balance on offense this time of year. You can’t all be threes, it can’t all be inside. You gotta have a good healthy balance, you can’t be one-dimensional offensively. And then your defensive rebounding gotta win you games this time of year,” Wardle said.
Hickman says the environment of Carver Arena with the sold-out crowd made a big difference in the game, and, at times, affected Drake and themselves.
“If we couldn’t hear anything on defense, we know they couldn’t hear anything on offense. And we know that cheering isn’t for them,” Hickman said.
Fans stormed the court after the game to celebrate with the Braves. Hickman added in the postgame press conference that it was the first time he had experienced a fans rushing the court in celebration.
Mast says a factor in the team’s success this year in winning the title was having depth and good players coming off the bench.
“We know we have enough talent. If one guy, two guys, go down, we know we’re fine,” Mast said. “So like Hicks (Connor Hickman) said, stay the course, keep working.”
Players and coaches plan to celebrate the championship on Sunday evening, but everyone says the focus then moves on to Arch Madness.
Bradley last won Arch Madness in 2020, the second of back-to-back title for the Braves. Winning the tournament gets you an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, but the Braves didn’t get to play in the event as COVID canceled the tournament days after.
Wardle says they always want to make the NCAA Tournament, but the canceled appearance in 2020 gives extra motivation.
“That hurt. That was one of the hardest things to go through as a coach was when that happened to that group,” Wardle said.
Mast was a part of that 2020 team, but didn’t play because of a redshirt year. He says he would like to experience the NCAA Tournament before leaving Bradley.
Arch Madness at Enterprise Center in St. Louis begins Thursday, but the Braves received a first-round bye as the top seed. Their first game will be Friday at noon against the winner of the 8-9 game between Northern Iowa and Illinois State.
Every game Bradley plays at Arch Madness can be heard live on 1470 and 100.3 WMBD.
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PEORIA, Ill. – The Bradley University men’s basketball team has won the championship of the Missouri Valley Conference.
The Braves beat Duke Sunday at Carver Arena in front of a sold-out crowd by a score of 73-61. It’s the first MVC title for the Braves since 1996.
The Braves now move on to the MVC Tournament in St. Louis. They are expected to play Friday at 12:00 p.m. versus the winner of Thursday’s Northern Iowa-Illinois State matchup. You can listen to the game starting with Braves Plus pregame at 11:06 a.m. on 1470 & 100.3 WMBD!
This story will be updated.
(Caleb Kelch/1470 & 100.3 WMBD)
