Redbirds Huge Second Half Lifts Them to Victory over Bradley

NORMAL, Ill.-The Illinois State men’s basketball team defeated their I-74 rivals, the Bradley Braves 74-65 Sunday night at Redbird Arena.

It was not pretty early on for the Redbirds Sunday night, but they found a way to pull it out. The Redbirds roared back with a massive second half in order to secure the victory over Bradley. Early in the first half ISU trailed by as many as 20 points in the first half making their comeback the second largest in school history. After the break the Redbirds looked like a completely different team with the defensive intensity, they brought in the second half. ISU outscored the Braves 48-25 in the second half to will them to the victory.

“It was a team effort, and it starts on the defensive end and our defense led to our offense after we got down.” Said Muller

Illinois State was paced by 24 points from junior Antonio Reeves, Josiah Strong followed him with 14 points, six rebounds and four assists on the night. Howard Fleming Jr and Kendall Lewis added 11 points apiece and grabbed 5 rebounds apiece.

“Credit to the players, toughness, togetherness and different guys stepping up against a really good team.” Said Muller.

The Redbirds move to 9-8 on the season and 2-2 in Missouri Valley Conference play following the win. They will be back in action Wednesday night when they travel to Springfield Missouri to take on the Missouri State Bears. Tip-off Wednesday will be at 7.