Big men Somerville and O'Bryant combine for 34 points and 24 rebounds
Matthew McConkey
Daily Egyptian
ST. LOUIS- Tony Bennett chucked up shots
all afternoon long, with most of them rattling off the rim and into
other player's hands.
With 37 seconds left in the game and
five ticks on the shot clock, Bennett made his only made three-pointer
of the game, sealing No. 5-seeded Bradley's 60-52 victory against
top-seeded Wichita State in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley
Conference Tournament on Saturday.
"I wanted to take him all the way to the
basket, but he kind of sagged off," Bennett said. "I was shooting
horrible all night, so I stood back and knocked the three down."
The win puts the Braves (20-9) in the
Missouri Valley Championship game Sunday against either No.2 seed SIU
or No. 6 seed Northern Iowa. Wichita State (24-8) will have to play the
waiting game until next Sunday to find out if they will make it to the
NCAA tournament.
Although Bennett essentially put the
game away for the Braves, it was Bradley's big men who helped get the
Braves into the championship game for the first time since 2001.
Sophomore center Patrick O'Bryant and
senior Marcellus Sommerville led the Braves in scoring, combining for
34 points and 24 rebounds. O'Bryant also had five blocked shots.
"I just though we needed to control the
boards as best we could, and that was a big emphasis starting the
game," Sommerville said. "We just wanted to establish an inside
presence."
During first-half play, O'Bryant
dominated. He used his seven-foot frame to post up on Valley
player-of-the-year Paul Miller and compiled six rebounds and eight
points. Several times he dunked over Miller, a bulky presence down low.
Despite O'Bryant's inside play, the
Shockers relied heavily upon guard Sean Ogirri, who went
three-for-three from the three-point line, in the first half with his
11 points. The Shockers led the Braves 24-22 at halftime.
The defensive-orientated Braves came out
shooting in the second half, doubling its score in ten minutes of play
with help from O'Bryant. Wichita State's Miller couldn't stop O'Bryant,
who poured on 11 of his 17 points in the half, mostly over Miller.
Miller was the only big man for the
Shockers making shots, as he recorded 15 points, but fellow forward
Kyle Wilson went 0-for-9 with nine rebounds.
Each team was also relentless on the
boards in the second frame. The Shockers and Braves would chuck up
haphazard shots, pull them down, get fouled, and go to the free throw
line.
The Braves shot a perfect 10-for-10 in
the second half from the free throw line, while Wichita State went
8-for-12.
The last time the Bradley went to the
MVC Championship game was 2001 when Indiana State beat the Braves
69-63.
Bradley head coach Jim Les said he had
no preference as to whom the Braves play because every team left has a
chance to win it all.
"This league is a monster, and you know,
there were a bunch of teams that I thought could be playing tomorrow,
and certainly those two out there on the floor (Northern Iowa and
Southern Illinois) are two of them," Les said.
