ISU Sycamores hold on to beat Bradley Braves, 63-61

ST. LOUIS. MO (3-4-2005) – Indiana State jumped out to a 44-28 halftime lead and withstood a furious rally from the Bradley Braves to claim a 63-61 win in the first round of the 2005 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

Lawrence Wright’s dunk with 51 second to play pulled the Braves within two (59-57). With the shot clock winding down, Brandon Ray picked up a loose ball in the paint and knocked down a 12-foot jumper to push the Sycamores ahead 61-57, with 28 seconds remaining. After the Sycamores held on defense, Ray was fouled and made one of two free throws before Marcellus Sommerville’s jumper pulled the Braves back to within three (62-59) with eight ticks remaining on the clock.

Amani Daanish missed two free throws, giving the ball back to Bradley with five seconds to play. ISU’s Gabriel Moore fouled Jeremy Crouch who knocked in two free throws to cut the ISU lead to one (62-61). Daanish was fouled with one second left and made the first free throw before missing the second one. Time expired as O’Bryant’s desperation heave fell short, giving ISU the win.

Sophomore Eric Gray paced the Sycamores with 15 points, while Daanish added 12. David Moss scored 13 points, while Gabriel Moore tallied a game-high four assists. Wright led the Braves with 18 points. O’Bryant tallied 15 points, while Crouch added 12 for BU. Sommerville, who averaged 17.9 points entering Friday’s contest, scored just seven points, marking the first time in 19 games he failed to score in double figures.

Indiana State started the game hot from the floor, shooting 52 percent from the field (14-27). The Sycamores led by as many as 22 (37-15) in the opening stanza. Bradley’s defense tightened in the second half, limiting the Trees to just 5-of-25 (.200) from the floor.

With the win, Indiana State (11-19) advances to face the top-seeded Southern Illinois Salukis on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. CST. Bradley finished the season with a mark of 13-15.

USA-365.com provides live Internet audio streaming with Brian Fritz providing the play-by-play and Jim Waugh with the color commentary. The pre-game show starts Saturday, March 5 at 11:40 a.m., CST (12:40 p.m., EST) with the tip-off set for 12:00 p.m., CST (1:00 p.m., EST) on www.USA-365.com.

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