It did not look like it was going to be much of a game, Bracket Buster or otherwise, with four minutes left in the first half. In fact, it pretty much looked like the game was over.

Maybe Bradley thought the same thing.

After opening up a 38-13 lead on Loyola with 16 minutes into the game, Bradley frittered away the advantage, holding on for an 86-75 victory at the Gentile Center in ESPN’s Bracket Buster challenge.

The Braves’ (16-12) win ended the Ramblers’ (14-16) two-game winning streak, continuing Bradley’s intrastate dominance over Loyola. With the victory, the Braves hold a 30-15 advantage in 45 games between the two teams.

Just when it looked as if the Braves had taken total control of the game, Loyola turned things around. They ended the half on an 11-2 run, coming out like gangbusters again in the second half, and needing only 1:45 to cut the Braves’ lead to just 10 points.

By the time the Ramblers closed within seven points, with 10:49 remaining in the game, they had completed a 34-16 run, making a game of it once again.

Bradley head coach Jim Les said that the quick turnaround didn’t necessarily surprise him.

“I think it makes sense that we had a little bit of a letdown there; that happens to a lot of teams,” Les said. “After seeing them beat Butler on the road, that was really an attention-getter for us and our team. For them to go on the road and get a big win like that, we knew that today we would have to come in and play very well to get the win.”

And play very well they did, hitting at a 50 percent clip from the field for the game (including 8-of-19 from three-point range), forcing 18 Loyola turnovers, and, in general, harassing the Ramblers with their pressure defense.

Les believed that it was his team’s discipline and athleticism that powered them through.

“We like to say that we have to ignite our athleticism, and the best way for us to do that is through our pressure defense,” Les said. “We had a lot of ball-pressure, denials on passes, and our help defense was very quick. Especially early on in the game, I think we sped them up more than what they wanted.”

The tempo did seem to affect the Ramblers, and when they started their comeback late in the first half, they did so by dictating their own style of play. At the beginning of the second half, they scored three straight baskets on Bradley turnovers forced in the backcourt.

As they did all game long, though, Bradley had the answer with a quick three and an alley-oop jam by Chris Roberts that brought the heavily red-clad Bradley crowd to its feet.

Ramblers coach Jim Whitesell was unhappy with his team’s first-half performance after the game, but pleased with the way they came back.

“They really put it to us in the first half, from that first TV timeout until the four-minute mark of the first half,” Whitesell said. “Even still, it was a nice comeback for us, getting it down to eight or six there. We just couldn’t get the next stop or the next basket to keep getting closer.”

Roberts and Sam Maniscalco led four Braves in double figures with 18 points each.

Maniscalco, a Chicago product playing in front of many family members and friends, said they weren’t a motivation for him in the game.

“Really, I just treated it as just another game,” Maniscalco said. “A lot of my family got to watch today, plus a lot of my high school friends, but my number one goal today was just to get the win.”

Loyola was led by Justin Cerasoli’s 26 points, and J.R. Blount’s 20, but at times they were the only offensive forces on the floor for the Ramblers.

After the game, Blount knew they would have to be more solid in their next game to get a win—Senior Night against UIC next Friday.

“The first 15 minutes today, we just got out-executed and out-played,” Blount said. “It just goes to show that we will have to give a more complete effort against UIC.”

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