Daily Egyptian

PEORIA-- The SIU men's basketball continues to play Russian roulette with its NCAA Tournament chances, fumbling away a chance to capture late-season momentum in a 72-60 loss at Bradley on Tuesday night.

The Salukis appeared lost on both ends of the floor, characteristic for this team when it plays on the road. In a game that could have catapulted SIU into a two-team lead in the Missouri Valley Conference had it won, the Salukis (18-8, 11-5) allowed Bradley (15-9, 9-7) to shot 59 percent from the floor.

"They beat us," SIU head coach Chris Lowery said. "It wasn't that we played bad, they beat us."

Randal Falker was the lone bright spot for the Salukis, scoring a career-high 24 points and grabbing nine rebounds. The sophomore, for much of the game, was the only consistent offensive option for the team.

Despite his play, it was not enough to overcome Bradley?s talented inside trio. Marcellus Sommerville, Patrick O?Bryant and Tony Bennett combined for 49 points and the caused serious match-up troubles for the Salukis.

"(Sommerville) put us on his back early and he has been giving us great leadership," said Bradley head coach Jim Les.

For a while, it appeared that Falker?s inspired play could keep SIU competitive. In the first half, which Bradley led 31-25, he recorded 14 points and five rebounds. While Falker shot seven-of-eight from the floor, the rest of the team combined made just 25 percent of their shots.

Lowery said the key to stopping the Braves was keeping them out of the transition game, but the Salukis failed at that, giving up 14 points on runaway buckets.

"They did what they needed to do to take us out of a ballgame," Lowery said. "Nobody has really had our guards that shook up on the defensive end all year."

Four minutes into the second half, Falker collected his third foul, putting freshman Tony Boyle and Jamaal Foster to guard Bradley's interior players. While Falker sat, O'Bryant took over, scoring four quick points and establishing dominance, which would carry throughout for the rest of the game.

The Salukis usual smothering defense was nothing for the Braves guards as well. After SIU's Tony Young collected his fourth foul eight minutes into the second half, sophomore Daniel Ruffin helped extend the Braves? stronghold on the game, pouring in seven points and four rebounds.

"They hit big shots, made big shots and you can't take anything away from them," said junior guard Tony Young, who finished with nine points. "We didn't execute our defensive plan."

Lowery put Young back in the game with six minutes left to go, but the Braves kept putting the ball in the paint.

The Salukis are now 4-4 on the road during Valley play.

The loss drops the Salukis to into a three-way tie for third place in the conference. Creighton and Northern Iowa also lost Tuesday, clearing the four-way log jam at the top of the Valley. Wichita State is now in sole possession of first place in the conference.

"That's what makes (the Valley great)," said Lowery. "You cant predict what is going to happen. It is not scripted."