Bradley Pulls Off Stunner Against Drake

[February 20, 2008]  DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Jeremy Crouch's jumper with 11 seconds left capped Bradley's 12-2 run that gave the Braves a 72-71 victory over No. 16 Drake on Tuesday night, the Bulldogs' first home loss of the season.

Crouch scored 23 points to lead the Braves (16-12, 9-7 Missouri Valley Conference), who held Drake (23-3, 14-2) scoreless for the final 5 minutes.

Bradley, winners of eight of its last 10, took its first lead of the second half when Crouch pulled up just inside the 3-point line and drilled an 18-footer to make it 72-71.

Drake's Klayton Korver missed an open jumper and Josh Young's desperation shot hit the rim as time expired.

Young had 23 points and Jonathan Cox added 15 for Drake, which has lost two of three as its heads into its biggest test so far, a mid-major showdown at No. 8 Butler on Saturday.

The Braves trailed 67-57 with 7:11 left and Drake seemed on its way to its 23rd win in 24 games. But Matt Salley and Theron Wilson made layups to bring Bradley within 71-67, and Sam Maniscalco hit a 3 with 1:13 left to make it 71-70. Young missed a 3 on the other end, and Bradley got the ball back with the shot clock turned off, setting up Crouch's game-winner.

Wilson had 15 points and Daniel Ruffin added 11 for Bradley, which exacted a measure of revenge after losing to Drake 69-68 on Jan. 16 on a buzzer-beater by Adam Emmenecker.

Young opened the second half with three quick baskets -- all on strong drives to the rim -- and added a long 3 and a jumper in traffic to give the Bulldogs a 46-34 lead.

Bradley used a 9-0 run to pull within 53-50 midway through the second half.

Korver then hit three straight 3s to put the Bulldogs ahead 62-53.

After trailing by as much as 20-9, Drake finished the first half on a 19-8 run to tie the game at 33.

The Braves played without sophomore guard Andrew Warren, the team's third-leading scorer at 13.1 points a game. He broke his left hand Saturday in a win over Creighton.

Bradley hit seven of its first nine shots to take the early 11-point lead. Drake tightened up its defense and pulled within 25-21 on a putback by Leonard Houston.

Jacob Baryenbruch and Cox hit consecutive 3-pointers to give the Bulldogs their first lead, 31-30. Ruffin hit a 3 as time expired in the first half to bring the Braves even. Bradley missed 15 of its final 20 shots in the opening half.

Drake committed more turnovers in the first 12 minutes, five, than it did when it set a school record with just four against Northern Iowa last Saturday.

[Associated Press; By LUKE MEREDITH

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