Brown scores 14, Bradley stifles Southern Illinois, 60-51 (Dec 29, 2016)
PEORIA, Ill. (AP) Darrell Brown scored 14 points on Thursday night and Bradley beat Southern Illinois 60-51 in the Missouri Valley Conference opener for both teams.
Koch Bar and Nate Kennell scored 10 apiece while Luuk van Bree and JoJo McGlaston added nine each.
Brown and Kennell hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Bradley (6-8) the lead, 46-40, for good with 4:12 left. Armon Fletcher converted a 3-point play to pull SIU within two with 3:06 to go, but van Bree hit a 3 five seconds later and Kennell added another to make it 54-46 with 1:52 remaining. The Braves made 6 of 8 free throws from there to seal it.
Southern Illinois (7-7) shot just 27.3 percent (18 of 66) from the field - its lowest since coach Barry Hinson took over in 2012-13 - including 2 of 26 from 3-point range.
Sean O'Brien had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Salukis. Thik Bol added nine and 12.
Bradley snapped a three-game skid.
