by PointGuard » Tue Jan 19, 2016 10:27 pm
Game #27, Feb. 22, 2019: Missouri State Bears (17-9, 10-6) at Bradley Braves (11-15, 8-8)
Play-by-play excerpts:
Hey Bears fans, this is Tyson Rodero bringing you Missouri State basketball! Tonight the Bears take on a tough foe on the road. This is a big game for Missouri State since a win will give them sole possession of second place in the Missouri Valley Conference since Drake has already lost their game earlier today. While the Bears easily beat the Braves when playing in Springfield earlier this year, Bradley has been tough at home while the Bears have not done all that well when playing away.
Unfortunately the Bears’ starting PG, Bart McCain still is not 100%, but he is suited up tonight and may see limited time on the court even though he’s not in the starting lineup. But Bradley’s starting SG Adam Ross has been nursing a sore back. The Braves have him starting again though. Ross, along with PG Khalid Hawkins and reserve big man, Michael Whitworth are the mainstays of Bradley’s offense.
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Ouch! That foul was assessed against Ricky Lee, so not only does Bradley’s Nick Williams drop in the basket and go to the line with a 3-point chance, Lee goes to the bench with 2 fouls after just 3 minutes of play. Kenneth Grandison comes in to replace Lee. Williams toes the line but misses the shot so Bradley leads 9-6.
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Oh, Hawkins hits a his second 3 to put the Braves on top 15-6.
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Grandison hits a reverse layup. That’s 6 straight points for the Bears who cut Bradley’s lead to 15-12.
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Another foul against the Bears. Bart McCain returns to the court after missing 3 games. Let’s see if he can shake the rust off.
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That’s the 4th blocked shot by the Braves who quickly bring the ball up court and Whitworth makes them pay by putting in a 10 footer to make increase their lead to 28-17 with 8 minutes left in the first half.
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Another offensive rebound by Bradley. Mason puts the ball back up and scores making it 32-23.
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Another miss. The Bears shooting in the last 10 minutes has been atrocious. That taken together with their ineffectiveness on the boards and their propensity to turn over the ball makes it unsurprising that they trail by 13. Vandergard doesn’t seem to be able to put the right combination on the court.
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OK, the buzzer sounds ending the first half with the Bears behind by a 42-26 score. The Bears hit 39% of their shots, were a minus 8 in rebounds and had 10 turnovers. Kenneth Grandison and Brent Gregory topped the Bears’ scoring with 6 points each. Bradley’s Khalid Hawkins topped all scorers with 10 points.
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We’re nearly to the midway mark of the 2nd half, and with Simmons two free throws, the Bears finally cut the lead to 10 points, but they have yet to show an ability to make an extended run to get back into this game.
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Missouri State’s shooting woes continue. That miss makes them 0 for 11 on three point attempts.
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Gregory takes the pass and puts up a shot over his defender. It drops for 3 points to cut Bradley’s lead to 59-56 with 4 minutes left in the game.
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Hawkins sneaks inside and puts up a tough shot around Simmons. The shots drops and he’s fouled with 2:29 remaining. His free throw gives him 20 points and makes it 65-
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That’s it…game over. The Bears go down in defeat and stay tied for 2nd place. Not a lot of difference in team stats, but just enough of an edge for the Braves in most all categories to keep Missouri State from being able to pull out the win.
Final Score: Bradley—71, Missouri State (17-10, 10-7, 2nd place tie)—62.
Leading players for Missouri State: SG Brent Gregory-17 pts, 2 reb, 1 assist; PG Terrence Simmons-13 pts, 2 assists, 2 reb; PF Kenneth Grandison-9 pts, 2 reb, 1 steal.
Player of the Game: Bradley’s SG Adam Ross-16 pts, 4 assists, 6 reb, 2 steals, 3 blocks.
Also for Bradley: PG Khalid Hawkins-20 pts.
Post Game interview of Coach Bret Vandegard by Tyson Rodero:
TR: Tough loss tonight, Coach.
BV: Every loss is a tough one, but yeah, we had a chance to win this game but just couldn’t make a final push.
TR: Do you think that not having Bart McCain playing at the top of his game was the difference?
BV: Bart did OK, and Terrence (Simmons) came on strong at the point, so no, I don’t think that was the reason we lost. Our shooting was off. We need to hit more than 42% of our shots to have a chance.
TR: What did you think of Bradley’s guards?
BV: 36 points between the two of them speaks volumes. Gotta tip my hat to both of them. They fought all the way through the game.
TR: Your final game of the regular season is this Saturday at home against Indiana State. Think there’s any chance to take sole possession of 2nd place in the conference?
BV: Anything is possible. But let’s be realistic, both Drake and Northern Iowa have home games also. Plus our opponent, Indiana State, whipped our butts in our earlier game this season against them. So, the main thing is for us to focus on revenging that embarrassing defeat, then go to the conference tourney with the aim to knock off each opponent we take on to become tournament champs and get to the Big Dance.
TR: Thanks, Coach. We’re behind you on that one.
Dynasty Threads:
Fedora-CB;Town Crier-CB;FIve Friends/Foes-CB;Media Perspective-CB;Whatever It Takes-CB;Who's Bret Vandergard-CB;Gym Rat-CB;Repairman-CB;S. Mastroani-TPG;V. Stevenson-TPG