 Eldridge made four 3-pointers in the game, giving him 102 triples in
his career. Sophomore forward Dinma Odiakosa had 13 points, a
team-best nine rebounds and three blocks. Senior forward Anthony
Slack scored 14 points on a perfect 6-for-6 performance from the
field and surpassed 500 points for his career. Senior guard Dom
Johnson tied his career high with eight assists and had seven
rebounds.Bradley was led by forward Theron Wilson and guard
Jeremy Crouch, who each scored 17 points, and guard Daniel Ruffin
added 16 points and five assists. Center Matt Salley pulled down
seven boards for the Braves.
A pair of momentum-changing runs highlighted the opening four
minutes of the game. Bradley scored on three of its first four
possessions to take a 7-0 lead, with Wilson, guard Andrew Warren and
Crouch providing the field goals. But the Redbirds fought back with
a 9-0 flurry to take a 9-7 lead. Eldridge started the spree with
back-to-back field goals. At the first media timeout (15:23) ISU
owned an 11-9 advantage.
The Braves answered with an 8-0 run out of the break and forced
the Redbirds into their first timeout trailing 17-11. Warren scored
on a putback following two consecutive offensive rebounds, while
Ruffin and Wilson added 3-pointers. Bradley continued its torrid
shooting, building two double-digit leads in the ensuing 5 1/2
minutes. Between the 11:49 and 7:49 marks, the Braves went on a 10-6
spree to take a 27-17 lead at the half's third media timeout. BU's
Matt Salley had four points in the stretch.
The Redbirds called their second timeout with 5:18 remaining
after Bradley completed a quick 4-0 spurt and claimed a 31-19 lead.
Eldridge and Johnson tallied back-to-back 3-point field goals coming
out of the timeout and closed the gap to six, 31-25, with 3:47
remaining. ISU finished the stanza on a 6-2 spurt, including four
points by Emmanuel Holloway, to pull within 33-31 heading into the
locker room at halftime.
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Slack single-handedly gave ISU the early advantage in the second
half's opening stages, going a perfect 3-for-3 from the field over
the first 2:04 of the frame. He connected on two turnaround jumpers
in the paint and brought the crowd to its feet after a thundering
transition dunk following senior guard Boo Richardson's second
consecutive steal. But Slack was forced to exit the game later,
re-aggravating his sore right shoulder that he injured at Bradley on
Jan. 23.
At the ensuing timeout (15:40), the Redbirds led by six, 41-35,
their largest lead of the game. The Redbirds' lead was stretched to
eight points, 48-40, at the half's second media timeout (11:59).
Eldridge tallied his third 3-pointer of the game in the stretch,
while Odiakosa and junior forward Brandon Sampay added field goals
in the post.
Bradley trimmed the ISU lead to 57-52 with 5:31 remaining after a
3-pointer by Ruffin, his first field goal of the second half. The
Braves then called timeout, but the Redbirds scored four of the
ensuing seven points and held a 61-55 lead at the final media
timeout of the game (3:45). Slack hit two free throws, and Odiakosa
had a dunk off an entry pass from Johnson to provide the scoring in
the spurt.
Bradley kept the pressure on and eventually cut the Redbird lead
to 66-64 with 1:48 remaining, capping off a 6-1 run. Wilson had four
points in the run. Bradley stayed within a basket until Eldridge
nailed a jumper from the top of the key with 21 seconds left. Two
free throws by Ruffin cut the lead down to three points, 71-68, but
Richardson added a free throw on the ensuing possession to ice the
game.
[Text from file received from
John Sandberg,
Illinois
State University]
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