Missouri Valley Conference Basketball News

CIT Championship Game: Bradley battles but falls short against Old Dominion

The Bradley Braves' 2009 season ended in much the same way that their 2008 campaign did: One win short of a championship in the inaugural edition of a lower-tier tournament.
 
One year after losing the deciding game of the first CBI Championship Series, Bradley dropped the title tilt in the brand-new CollegeInsider.com Tournament. The Braves bowed to Old Dominion, 66-62, before a vocal and energized crowd at Carver Arena. The narrow loss in Peoria ends BU's season at 21-15, two weeks after other Missouri Valley Conference teams had already begun offseason preparations.
 
In one sense, it has to sting coach Jim Les's lads that they weren't able to claim a crown after playing more than 35 games for the second straight season. When a team plays through the end of March the way Bradley has in back-to-back years, a tangible reward becomes a little more important. With that said, however, the real payoff of this deep run through the four-game CIT event needs to emerge in the fall of 2009 and the winter of 2010. After playing 74 games in two seasons (38 in 2007-'08; 36 in 2008-'09), Bradley's roster has the game experience necessary to climb to a higher place in the Missouri Valley's pecking order.
 
This particular confrontation against the Monarchs from Virginia illustrated how Bradley can grow next season. The Braves--up against an opponent with both size and length--found it hard to get comfortable looks at the basket, particularly from 3-point range. Bradley depends on its guards for scoring production, so when the backcourt trio of Sam Maniscalco, Eddren McCain, and Chris Roberts combined to go 3-of-17 beyond the arc, the home team found itself in a tough spot. This is the difficulty but also the challenge of playing a meaningful tournament-style game against an unfamiliar opponent from a different conference: If shots don't fall or the game plan doesn't unfold as intended, can adjustments be made on the fly?
 

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Bradley can point to forward momentum heading into next season because Jim Les and his staff were able to coax a comeback from their kids.
 
Down 48-37 with 10:23 left in regulation time, the Braves mounted a strong comeback without the use of 3-point shots. Getting two at a time and digging in at the defensive end of the floor, Bradley sliced the Old Dominion lead to 55-53 with 3:29 left. The Monarchs were able to hold on for the win by getting the majority of rebounds and 50-50 balls down the stretch, but it was still impressive that Bradley came as close as it did in the dying moments of the second half. On a night when plan A clearly didn't work for this team, BU used plan B--and a heaping helping of determination--to very nearly pull off the improbable.

Perhaps this result is karma for a ballclub that luckily advanced into the CIT semifinals, courtesy of Chris Roberts' 75-foot answered prayer against Oakland. Perhaps karma has nothing to do with the outcome of a basketball game. At any rate, Bradley played deep into a basketball calendar for the second straight year. That's a clear benefit to a program and the younger players within it. When October practice gets going, the Braves need to allow the lessons they've learned in recent weeks to translate into a better and bolder Missouri Valley Conference showing in 2010.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Staff Writer