Turnbull resets career scoring mark against Bradley
Aces fall to Braves in Saturday contest
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Connor Turnbull set career marks in points (21) and rebounds (13) but it was not enough as Bradley held off a furious rally to defeat the University of Evansville men’s basketball team by a final score of 80-74 on Saturday evening at the Ford Center.
Turnbull picked up the first double-double of his collegiate career. He was 7-for-12 from the field while adding three blocks and two assists. Tayshawn Comer led the Purple Aces with 23 points while Josh Hughes scored 12 and Tanner Cuff finished with ten.
Bradley opened the game on a 7-1 run and led for the duration of the game. After starting the game 0-for-5 from the floor, Josh Hughes knocked down UE’s first shot to make it a 7-3 game. In the next possession, Connor Turnbull found Gabriel Pozzato for an alley oop that cut the deficit to two just over four minutes into the game.
Over the next seven minutes, the Braves defense held UE to just two points while pushing the lead to 18-7. Evansville hit just one of its 13 attempts over that span while turning it over three times. Turnbull’s first basket of the night got UE back on the board while Hughes followed with a 3-pointer to make it an 18-13 game with 7:28 left in the half.
Despite the stretch by the Aces, Bradley fended off the challenge to complete the half on a 25-12 run to take their largest lead of 18 points into halftime. A 3-pointer with 15 seconds remaining in the period sent BU into the break with a 43-25 edge.
In the opening two minutes of the second half, Bradley took its largest lead of 21 points at 46-25. Tanner Cuff countered with a dunk before Tayshawn Comer registered five in a row to make it a 48-32 game. As the clock went under 15 minutes, the UE rally continued when Gui Tesch and Hughes knocked down consecutive triples to cut the BU advantage to just 10 at 51-41.
Midway through the final stanza, Bradley retook a 15-point edge, but UE continued to fight back. Two free throws by Cuff made it a 10-point game once again. Each time the Aces rallied, the Braves countered. Entering the final five minutes, Evansville finally cut the gap to single digits. Following a Comer basket, Turnbull recorded three in a row to chop the lead to five at 69-64.
With three minutes left BU ended the stretch with a bucket while Hughes quickly answered with his third long ball of the night to get within four. The turning point came with two minutes left when four in a row by the Braves put them up by eight (77-69) and they would hold strong from there, finishing the night with the 80-74 victory.
Four Bradley players finished in double figures with Duke Deen leading the way with 16 points. UE dominated the glass, finishing with a 45-28 rebounding edge but it was the Braves with the advantage offensively, out-shooting UE by a 47.2%-36.7% final.
Evansville takes to the road on Wednesday to face Missouri State in Springfield.
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