'That's how you win': How Bradley's bigs pounded Valpo to extend home win streak

PEORIA — Malevy Leons has a theory about why the Bradley Braves are so dominant at home.

"I think it's our spirit here, that Bradley Braves mascot," Leons said playfully. "Our spirit is running around spooking the other team here. I like watching Kaboom! I think he's the reason why we win here."

Leons and his fellow forwards went kaboom for six dunks in a span of 9:08 Saturday to traumatize Valparaiso, while the forward from Netherlands knocked down five 3-pointers on the way to an 88-66 victory before 4,476 at Carver Arena.

BOX SCORE: Valparaiso at Bradley | Preview: Valpo at BU | Standings: MVC

That extended the Braves' home win streak to 16 games, matching the 1965-66 Joe Stowell-led team for ninth-longest in program history. It's the longest home win streak since the Braves won 27 in a row over 1993-95.

"We haven't talked about the win streak once," Bradley coach Brian Wardle said. "We're just taking these games one at a time, staying focused."

But mystical Kaboom! aside, the Beacons mostly fell prey to a BU front line that punished them in waves and gave a determined, driven performance.

How driven?

On Saturday morning, the Braves had their customary walkthrough on their practice court in Renaissance Coliseum.

Leons wouldn't leave when it was over, insisting on staying in the gym until he made 50 3-pointers.

"I went to shoot a little bit more," Leons said. "It was supposed to be 50, but I made 55 3s. I just felt like I needed to do it. I guess it helped. I better start doing that every day now."

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Leons hit a corner 3 to open the game, then hit another, and another and by the time he was done he'd hit 5 of 8 from 3-point range and Bradley had a 71-40 lead with 12:14 left in the game.

"Please," center Rienk Mast said, looking over at Leons. "Do that more."

There is a feeling that no one is going to stop Bradley's forward group. Too strong, too deep with guys like Darius Hannah and Ja'Shon Henry coming in off the bench.

"I just wanted to bring something to the table," Leons said. "But when I look over at the big guy (Mast), I think, 'Yeah, we're good.' "

Bradley held its breath as fifth-year forward Henry — who's had four concussions — was fouled hard from behind by freshman Ibra Bayu while trying to dunk in the first half. Bayu was assessed a flagrant 1.

Henry hit both free throws for 27-15, then drove to the rim for a layup and-1. Then he took a feed from Connor Hickman off a steal and rolled in for a dunk and 32-15 lead at 8:35 of the first half to complete a run of seven points in 44 seconds.

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Mast, who had his least-productive game of the season earlier in the week in a loss at Murray State, recovered in a big way Saturday, erupting for 13 points in a span of 6:49 early in the second half as Bradley's lead climbed to 33 points.

Then Leons shooting those 3s … it was wave after wave.

"Malevy plays a little shooting game with (associate head coach) Jimmie Foster, and I think this morning it helped him relax and shoot his shots," Wardle said. "It's good to see him get hot again. He was struggling the last four or five games with his shooting.

"We have depth in the forward spot. Now we have everyone back and we can definitely come off the bench at you with a lot of talent. Guys like Darius Hannah and Ja'Shon Henry can make plays."

Mast-erful Rienk

Rienk Mast had four points and four rebounds at halftime in an ongoing battle with Valpo center Ben Krikke. The terrific Beacons senior had 13 points and five boards at the half.

"I was kind of frustrated going into halftime, Krikke was playing really well and that's a matchup I was looking forward to," Mast said. "Guys fed me the ball and finally I got some shots to go down."

Mast ran him down in the second half, and ended up missing a double-double by one rebound, while matching Krikke's 17 points.

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"We know that if we just bring our toughness, maybe the first half a team will be able to deal with it, but we wear them down," Mast said. "It's not just us (starters), it's Ja'Shon Henry coming off the bench, Darius Hannah coming off the bench, we never stop going after people and wearing them down.

"Our bigs, especially Ja'Shon and Darius, did a great job of just sitting in there, catching the ball, they got in the right spots and we found them. We had 23 assists and nine turnovers. That's how you win a game."

Bradley won the paint, 36-28. And it dominated in bench points, 32-16.

"With our first subs coming off the bench against most people's second units, we just have an advantage," Mast said. "Ja'Shon was great for us, gave us a spark. You are up (26) at halftime, that's a great feeling."

Welcome home, 'Metta'

Bradley newcomer Ahmet Jonovic, the 7-foot-1 freshman center who arrived from Serbia last weekend, made his home debut and scored his first college points.

The big Serb hit a long pullup jumper to give the Braves their final points with 1:42 left.

Jonovic stepped on the court briefly midway through the second half, then returned with 4:15 remaining and played to the finish.

"It felt amazing," Jonovic said. "I just wanted to give my best, give 100% and even more. I looked at everything, it's a very cool arena."

Then he was off to celebrate with his new teammates in the locker room.

"We were dancing in the locker room for Metta," said Leons, referring to Jonovic by the nickname the team has given him. "We have a great group of guys and we can see he fits as a big guy, too."

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When Jonovic's long 2 went down, the players on the Bradley bench erupted, and the crowd joined in like a lightning bolt.

"Jonovic has only been here just six days, the guy is still catching up on sleep," Wardle said. "But it was fun to see him make his first basket, and the crowd reaction.

"He's only going to get better and better as he adjusts to the speed and pace of the game. Once he does, I think it's going to be fun to watch."

In the huddle

• Bradley forward Malevy Leons: "With our depth and our talent, we can build a lead when guys come off our bench. With Rienk Mast, and then Darius Hannah and Ja'Shon Henry off the bench … and our guards pushing the tempo."

• Bradley coach Brian Wardle: "We turned down good shots for great shots today. We shot it well and it was great to see. We were frustrated after our (loss at Murray State) — we did not shoot it well or finish well, but we definitely did that tonight. We showed some maturity and mental toughness and that's what we have to do moving forward."

• Wardle, on beating Valpo: "We shared the ball well. We punished their double teams in the post. They gave us a lot of different looks … our guys made a lot of good decisions in live play."

Bravely Speaking

Bradley is 11-6 (4-2 in the Valley). Valparaiso slid to 6-11 (0-6). … The Braves jumped back into second place Saturday night in a six-team tie. Drake thrashed Murray State on the road, Belmont beat Missouri State, and Northern Iowa beat SIU. The home team won five of the six games on the Valley slate. … Those game outcomes left Bradley, SIU, Belmont, Murray State, UNI and Missouri State all at 4-2 in a tie for second place in the conference. Bradley owns wins over UNI and Missouri State. … Bradley is 5-0 in home games following a road loss. … Bradley is 7-0 at home all-time against Valparaiso. … Malevy Leons and Rienk Mast combined for 15-of-23 shooting from the field and 36 points. Leons had a game-high 19 points and his five 3s matched his career high. … The Braves had three dunks from Darius Hannah, two by Ja'Shon Henry and one from Leons. … Hannah and guard Connor Hickman each had 10 points, while Henry had 11 points and six rebounds. … Valparaiso guards Quinton Green and Kobe King each had 12 points. … The Braves next host Evansville on Wednesday in Carver Arena. … The start time for Bradley's Jan. 21 home game against Belmont is expected to be announced by Monday. There is a tipoff time already printed on tickets, but it's there merely as a placeholder until the game goes through the MVC wildcard broadcast process for TV.

Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.

FINAL: Bradley 88, Valparaiso 66

Clearing the bench

3:49 p.m.: Bradley parked on an 86-60 lead, reserves are in the game. Ahmet Jonovic makes his home court debut with 4:15 left.

Bradley 71, Valpo 40

3:30 p.m.: Mast continued following a timeout, with a layin, and then Leons hit his fourth 3 of the game for 66-40 at 14:24.

Mast, back to the basket, backed his defender to the rim and finished with a layin for 68-40 at 13:11.

That gave him 13 points in the first 6:49 of the second half.

Leons hit his fifth 3 of the game at 12:14 to send Bradley to a 71-40 lead.

Oh, and Braves have Rienk Mast, too

3:19 p.m.: Rienk Mast turned it up at the outset of the second half, with two hooks, a jumper and a layup to put in nine points in a span of 2:40 and push Bradley's lead to 61-35 with 15:47 left.

Bradley bigs Henry, Leons and Mast have 35 points through 25 minutes.

HALFTIME: Bradley 49, Valparaiso 24

2:54 p.m.: Braves roll into halftime with a 25-point lead.

Bigs Malevy Leons and Ja'Shon Henry each have 11 points, and neither has played more than 10 minutes. Henry has 5 boards and Leons 3. Leons is 3 of 4 from 3-point range.

Bradley guard Connor Hickman having a nice bounce-back game with 8 points and a pair of 3s in 12 minutes.

Braves shooting 56.3% from the field and are 6 f 12 from 3.

Valpo center Ben Krikke with game-high 13 points and 5 rebounds at the break. Beacons have 11 turnovers.

Braves dominating with 22-12 edge in the paint and 22-2 in bench points.

Dunkin'

2:45 p.m.: Bradley stretched its lead to 45-21 with 2:59 left in the half when Darius Hannah had dunks on back-to-back possessions.

The Braves big men had six dunks in the first 17 minutes of the game.Pouring it on

2:37 p.m.: The Braves get a hook from Darius Hannah, a 3 from Hickman and a jumper from Rienk Mast to roll to a 39-17 lead with 6:50 left.

BU on a 21-6 run over 5:53 at that point, with Henry and Hickman combining for 17 points.

Oh Henry

2:32 p.m.: Bradley holds its breath as fifth-year senior Ja'Shon Henry -- who has had four concussions -- fouled hard from behind by Ibra Bayu while trying to dunk. Bayu called for a flagrant 1 foul.

Henry hits both free throws for 27-15 and BU keeps possession.

Henry then drives to the rim and-1 for 30-15 with 9:10 left in the half.

The Braves get it right back on a turnover and Henry jams it home for 32-15 at 8:35.

Walks off to the bench to an ovation from the crowd after scoring seven points in 44 seconds.

Hickman joins the party

2:22 p.m.: Bradley guard Connor Hickman hits a 3 to take the Braves to the under-12 break with a 21-11 lead.

Leons on fire

2:14 p.m.: Bradley forward Malevy Leons on fire early on, has hit three 3s in the game's first 5:23 to help build a 16-4 lead.

Leons hit a corner 3 for the game's first points.

He hit another, from the left wing, for 8-2 at 16:44.

Then Ville Tahvanainen hit a corner 3 for 13-4, BU got another stop, and Leons with his third 3 of the game for 16-4 at 14:37.

Starting lineups

1:53 p.m.: Bradley starts guards Connor Hickman and Duke Deen, with forwards Rienk Mast and Malevy Leons and wing Zek Montgomery.

Valpo counters with guards Kobe King, Nick Edwards and Quinton Green, plus forwards Ben Krikke and Max Nelson.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Bradley Braves basketball pounds Valpo as home win streak hits 16