Bradley University Athletics issued the following announcement on Nov. 27
The Bradley men's basketball team enters conference play on a high note after cruising to a 71-39 victory against Maine on Saturday afternoon at Carver Arena. The Braves improve to 2-5 overall on the season, while the Black Bears slip to 2-4.
Junior Malevy Leons led BU with a career-best 21 points – making 7-of-10 field goals and 5-of-7 from 3-point range. The junior also added six rebounds, three assists and three blocks on the afternoon as Bradley earned the 32-point victory.
Senior Ja'Shon Henry added 15 points for BU, while sophomore Rienk Mast added his fourth double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Graduate student Mikey Howell paced the Bradley attack with a game-high seven assists – his personal-best total as a Brave.
Turnovers played a factor in the first half as the two schools combined for 21 miscues. Bradley was able to take the lead into the locker after using an early 14-4 run to turn a four-point deficit into a 19-13 advantage. The Braves would take that six-point lead into the locker room with a 28-22 game after 20 minutes of play.
The second half, however, was all Bradley as the Braves outscored the Black Bears, 43-17. Bradley came out firing and an early 10-0 run put BU in front by double digits, 41-25, and the team never looked back. Leons put the exclamation point on the victory with back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the period followed by a nice assist on a Henry dunk for a 63-35 advantage. The lead blossomed to as many as 34 points before finishing off the 71-39 victory.
Bradley shot a season-best 56.8 percent from the field, including a 10-of-16 mark from 3-point range (55.0 percent). The Braves also forced the Black Bears into just 28.8 percent shooting with a 2-of-16 day from beyond the arc.
Bradley now turns its attention toward Missouri Valley Conference action, hosting Northern Iowa on Wednesday night. First tip at Carver Arena is slated for 7 p.m.
Game Notes: The Braves' 32-point victory is their largest against a Division I school since defeating IUPUI by 34 points, 90-56, on Nov. 9, 2019 … It also marks the fewest points allowed by BU versus a DI school since defeating Texas A&M Corpus Christi, 52-38, on Nov. 25, 2014 … Bradley has won its last 31 games when shooting at least 50 percent from the field … Leons' previous career-best was 16 points against Howard … The junior has also made 10-of-15 from 3-point range (66.7 percent) during the last three games (started the season 2-of-10) … Mast has four double-doubles in just seven games this season after totaling two in 28 games as a rookie … Mast was a perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point range on Saturday after entering the game with a 1-for-21 mark … Bradley improves to 2-1 all-time against Maine with the schools meeting for the first time in 28 years.
Original source can be found here.
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