Box Score
PEORIA, Ill. – Colt Ryan hit the 20-point mark yet again, but his 27 points was not enough as Bradley defeated the University of Evansville men's basketball team by a final score of 76-70 at Carver Arena.
With his 10-point outing, senior Ned Cox became the 45th player in program history to register 1,000 for his career. He entered the season with 736 before hitting the plateau.
Ryan hit 10 out of 22 attempts on the night, including 3 treys and all four free throws. D.J. Balentine tallied 13 for UE (13-11, 6-6 MVC) on a 5-of-10 shooting effort. Ned Cox registered 10. Leading the way for Bradley (14-10, 6-6 MVC) was Dyricus Simms-Edwards, who notched 21 points. Walt Lemon Jr. and Tyshon Pickett finished with 17 apiece.
Bradley hit its first two shots out of the gate before Ned Cox got UE on the board just over two minutes into the game to make it 4-2. Bradley got its offense cranking, draining 7 of its first 12 shots en route to a 16-4 lead. Evansville's offense stalled, starting the contest 2-10 from the floor while turning the ball over four times in the first eight minutes.
Cox took things in his own hands, ending what was a 10-0 run with a trey eight minutes in. His shot began an 8-0 stretch for UE as D.J. Balentine capped it off with a trey to cut the deficit to just four at 16-12. After missing his first five attempts on the night, Colt Ryan bounced back in a big way, draining his last five attempts of the half to finish the frame with 14 points.
Ryan outscored the Braves, 9-3, in a stretch of just 1:34 with Dyricus Simms-Edwards hitting a three in the middle. With 33 ticks left in the half, Ryan did it again, knocking down his first three of the game to give UE a 33-30 advantage. Simms-Edwards hit a bucket at the buzzer as the Aces went to the half up by a 33-32 margin.
Following its slow offensive start, UE rallied to hit 10 of its final 17 attempts while also holding a 19-13 rebounding lead. Troy Taylor was in usual form, hauling in six.
Colt kept his rally going into the second half, knocking down a three on the first UE possession before a layup on the next trip down the floor to give Evansville its largest lead of the game at 38-32. Jake Eastman ended the stretch with his first 3-pointer before Simms-Edwards hit a circus shot at the 16-minute mark to tie the game back up at 40-40.
Bradley continued to utilize the long-range shot as they retook the lead at 46-42 as a Walt Lemon Jr. trey capped off an 11-2 run that saw Bradley hit three of its first five threes of the second stanza. The run for the Braves would grow to a 23-6 stretch that saw BU go up by a score of 55-44. Egidijus Mockevicius ended the run with his first bucket of the evening.
With Bradley up 63-54, Evansville began to chip away as they quickly cut the lead to just three points on a Lewis Jones bucket with just over 3:20 remaining. The deficit remained at a possession until Colt Ryan connected on his third trey of the game with just 1:33 left to knot the game at 70.
Lemon gave the lead back to Bradley with two free throws with a minute left and the Aces would be unable to capitalize on their late opportunities as Bradley finished with the 76-70 victory.
Rebounds were even at 33 as Taylor led UE with eight. Bradley hit 49.1% of their shots while UE hit 45%.
On Sunday, the Aces will return home to face Drake in a 7:05 p.m. matchup set to be televised on ESPNU. It will also be "Throwback Night" as the first 1,000 fans will receive a Jerry Sloan replica jersey t-shirt. Fans are encouraged to wear orange and show their spirit in front of a national audience.
