ROCK HILL, S.C. — The Bradley Braves sent their Bully after the St. Bonaventure Bonnies, and he knocked a 13-point deficit down to size on a team willing to battle Monday morning.
BU point guard Jaquan “Bully” attacked the rim, earned free throws, grabbed four rebounds and scored all 13 of his points in the second half to help the Braves rally from a 13-point deficit to a six-point lead in the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon.
But it wasn’t enough as the Braves, in a tie with 83 seconds left, faded to a 69-63 loss in their 2025-26 season opener on a neutral floor in Rock Hill Sports & Event Center at Rock Hill, S.C.
“Attack the rim, coach Wardle just wanted me to be me, do what I do,” Johnson said. “Halftime we were (talking about) they were beating us on the glass, our effort had to be a lot better than theirs. We got to get the 50-50 balls, we do this every day in practice so we got to go do what we do. I just want to do whatever we got to do to get the win.”
Johnson rattled off 8 points in less than three minutes to will the Braves into a 50-49 lead with 10:56 left.
Bradley surged into a 55-49 lead with 8:47 left, and the teams traded scores down the stretch like heavyweight fighters.
“There were bright spots, throughout the game,” Bradley head coach Brian Wardle said. “There were moments where we showed some toughness and we showed great energy and passion. And then there were times when we looked a little fatigued.
“They were more physical than us … they were the more physical team. They pushed us around. I think that’s great for our guys to understand how physical this is going to be, to be really good.
“This team has fight, we’ll get better, we got to clean some things up, too, as coaches. It takes all of us to keep improving, and we’ll get there, that’s all ahead.”
Tripped up in the final seconds?
Bradley big man Corey Thomas was fouled on a 3-point attempt from the right wing with 83 seconds left and coldly made all three free throws to pull Bradley into a 62-62 tie.
Buddy Simmons II answered with a 3-pointer with 66 seconds left to put St. Bonaventure up 65-62.
Johnson then split a pair of free throws with 39 seconds left to close within 65-63, and then the Braves dug in needing a defensive stop.
They got it. St. Bonaventure ran the clock down, then Simmons II drove for a layup in traffic, missed it, and Bradley forward A.J. Smith snatched the rebound and looked for an outlet with 8 seconds left.
But heartbreak was lurking.
Smith spotted open guard Demarion Burch near midcourt at the right sideline and sent him a pass. But Burch lost his balance and fell to the court as the ball arrived and it sailed out of bounds.
St. Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt was at that spot, and replays looked like Burch might have tripped over him. But the player later said that was not the case.
“I didn’t trip on anybody,” Burch said. “I just slipped. There was kind of like a wet spot by the sideline there, by the scorers’ table and it got tight there.
“I was trying to get the pass but I ended up falling. So I take that on.”
Said Wardle: “I should have called a timeout as soon as A.J. got that rebound. With 8 seconds to go, down two, we’ve gone over scenarios in practice but obviously we haven’t been there in a live game. I should have called timeout and just made sure we secured the ball and got the last shot.”
Burch helped Bradley rally from a 10-point hole early in the second half when he hit a 3-pointer and added a layup in a span of 3:03 to cut the Bonnies’ lead to 42-38 with 14:55 left.
“I think we played good, but we just have to end the game stronger,” Burch said. “Gotta start the game stronger, too.”
Rebounding and the three-guard lineup
The Braves started point guard Jaquan Johnson and guards Demarion Burch and fifth-year veteran Alex Huibregtse, and gave freshman guard Montana Wheeler 20 minutes.
They combined for 45 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists and two steals.
“Well, we don’t know yet (how it worked out) because we got killed on the glass,” Wardle said. “We lost the game because we didn’t defensively block out and rebound. We’re going to have to really watch that and see why we give up so many offensive rebounds in the second half, especially at critical times, and why that is.
“So I don’t know if small is the answer. We were out-rebounded in the exhibition against St. Louis pretty bad, too.”
The Braves were out-rebounded by the Bonnies 44-29, including 15-5 on the offensive glass.
“I want to play three guards a lot together so we can get out and play, and the ball can pop and we can score,” Wardle said. “But we’ve got to be able to guard and we’ve got to be able to rebound if we do that.”
Wheels up
Bradley freshman guard Montana Wheeler played 20 minutes and produced six points, four assists and a steal.
The high-motor 5-foot-8 darting prospect supplied defensive pressure on his opponents, too.
“I probably should have found him some more minutes, but I was worried about the rebounding, to be honest,” Wardle said. “He made plays, pressures the ball, plays really hard gives us energy. He shows up every day.
“I don’t have to motivate him to play hard and compete. He’s just wired that way, so he’s going to get better and better.”
What they said
Bravely Speaking
Fake news: A viral post on X alleging “After a heated verbal altercation with the officiating crew, St. Bonaventure GM Adrian “Woj” Wojnarowski was just ejected from the venue. Wojnarowski was berating the officials from the stands and was forcibly removed by security” was declared a fake during the game. St. Bonaventure released a statement: “From the St. Bonaventure athletic department: That report is completely false. There was no exchange, much less altercation, between Woj and officials whatsoever, and Woj is still watching the game as we speak.” … The Braves got 13 points from each of their three starting guards, Jaquan Johnson, Alex Huibregtse and Demarion Burch. … Huibregtse was 3 of 7 from 3-point range, and the Braves shot 27% from 3 (6 of 22). … Bradley shot 32.3% from the field in a cold-shooting first half, but turned it on in the second have to hit 56% and finish at 42.9% overall. … St. Bonaventure shot 40% from the field and 36.4% from distance. … The Braves shot better than St. Bonaventure, had more points in the paint (34-24), more bench points (16-12), more points off turnovers (14-10), fewer turnovers (13-9) and still lost the game. Rebounding. … St. Bonaventure guard Buddy Simmons II had a game-high 24 points, including five 3s. … Frank Mitchell, the Bonnies’ 270-pound man in the middle, had 12 points and 9 rebounds. Cayden Charles and Joe Grahovac each added 8 boards. … The Braves will host Central Michigan in their home opener at 7 p.m. in Carver Arena.
Watch Bradley vs. St. Bonaventure in the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon
Bradley vs. St. Bonaventure score updates
FINAL: St. Bonaventure 69, Bradley 63
Braves tie it 62-62
11:59 a.m.: Bradley battled back into a 62-62 tie when big man Corey Thomas was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made all three free throws with 1:15 left.
St. Bonaventure up 62-57 late
11:53: Bonnies built a 62-57 lead with 5:28 left when Buddy Simmons II drained a 3. They carried that lead down to the final media break with 3:37 left.
Bonnies answer
11:45 a.m.: The Braves and Bonnies traded scores down the stretch, and St. Bonaventure took a 58-57 lead on a 3-pointer by Russian freshman Andrew Osasuyi with 6:33 left.
Braves extend lead, 55-49
11:40 a.m.: Alex Huibregtse hit a 3 from the right wing, then stole the ball to start a sequence in which Johnson turned and layed in the ball for 55-49 with 9:20 left.
Bradley takes first lead
11:32 a.m.: Bradley point guard Jaquan Johnson hit a jumper-and-1 just 70 seconds later to pull BU back to within 42-41.
Then he drove to the rim one-on-three and put down a reverse layup to give the Braves their first lead of the game, 45-44, with 12:44 left.
Here come the Braves
11:24 a.m.: The Braves charged off the ropes with a 3 from Huibregtse, then collected a St. Bonaventure turnover and cashed it in for a driving layup by Burch to get within 42-38 with 14:55 left.
Bradley rallies, Bonnies counter
11:20 a.m.: The Braves cut it to five with a layup from Alex Huibregtse, but Bonnies answered from jumper by Grahovac, a turnover followed by Huibregtse, and St. Bonaventure big man Frank Mitchell dunked off a lob for 42-33 with 15:49 left.
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BY THE NUMBERS
Bradley has 8 points from Demarion Burch and shot 32.3% from the field in the opening half.
Bonnies got a game-high 14 from Cayden Charles and shot 43.3% from the field.
Braves were out-rebounded 24-16.
HALFTIME: St. Bonaventure 34, Bradley 26
The broadcast feed crashes
10:45 a.m.: The stream from the Field of 68 went down around the five-minute mark of the first half from Rock Hill, S.C.
The Braves have made a run to cut their deficit to 7 with 1:49 left.
Braves down by 13
10:44 a.m.: The Bonnies expanded their run to 14-6 over 5:08 to build a 31-18 lead capped by a 3 from Cayden Charles with five minutes left in the half.
At that point the Braves were shooting 29% from the field and St. Bonaventure was at 54.4%.
Braves fall back by 9
10:32 a.m.: The Braves slipped nine back with 8:05 left and took a timeout when 6-10 Joe Grahovac hit a 3 for the Bonnies, Bradley’s Ahmet Jonovic turned it over under the BU basket, and Dasonte Bowen turned it into a layup for 23-14.
Braves down 4 at 12-under
10:24 a.m.: The Braves cut their deficit to 8-6 on a drive to the rim by 7-foot-1 Ahmet Jonovic with 12:38 left in the first half. Teams have combined for 9 of 29 shooting.
Both teams pumped, cold shooting start
10:13 a.m.: Bradley hits the first break with 1 of 9 shooting. Corey Thomas comes off the bench with Timo van der Knaap and Thomas dunks for BU’s first points of the season with 17:01 left. St. Bonaventure leads just 4-2.
Bradley vs St. Bonaventure: Starting lineups
Bradley likely will open with sophomore Jaquan “Bully” Johnson at point guard, fifth-year grad transfer Alex Huibregtse at the other guard, and a third guard, junior Demarion Burch. Newcomer senior A.J. Smith starts at forward, and senior returnee Ahmet Jonovic is at center.
St. Bonaventure projected lineup includes redshirt junior guard Dasonte Bowen, guard Buddy Simmons II, senior guard Cayden Charles, and bigs Joe Grahovac (6-10, sophomore) and Frank Mitchell (6-8, 270), a senior from Toronto.
Brian Wardle set to climb Bradley coaching win list
Bradley coach Brian Wardle is expected to climb the program’s list for wins this season.
The 11th-year coach opens the 2025-26 season with 100 Missouri Valley Conference wins, 10 behind program all-time leader Jim Molinari.
Wardle also will move up the program’s list for all-time overall victories, as well. He has 186, fourth all-time, with Chuck Orsborn (194) and Joe Stowell (197) next ahead. A.J. Robertson is the all-time leader at 316.
Bradley vs St. Bonaventure by the numbers
Bravely Speaking
The Braves were designated the visiting team for neutral-site opener and will wear their road reds. … The Braves led the nation in 3-point shooting last season (39.8%). … Bradley had the No. 3 scoring offense (76) and No. 3 scoring defense (68) in the Missouri Valley Conference in 2024-25. … Bradley last met St. Bonaventure in a 79-77 win on Dec. 30, 1972 in the Charlotte Invitational. … The Braves have nine new players on their roster and are the second-youngest team in the MVC, based on underclassmen. … BU returns just 26.8% of its scoring from 2024-25. … St. Bonaventure is starting over after losing 11 players from last year’s NIT team. They lost four of their top five scorers. … Bonnies guard Dasonte Bowen was named to the A-10 Preseason All-Conference Second Team. He’s a senior coming off an injury-shortened season, and was averaging 11.8 ppg and 42.8% from the field. … The Bonnies rebuilt roster includes seven players from the NCAA transfer portal and four new international players, including 6-foot-5 Russian Ilia Ermakov, a freshman who played 42 games in the Russian SuperLeage and averaged 12.2 points, 3.8 rpg, 4.3 apg and shot 41.1%. … Braves guards Jaquan Johnson and Demarion Burch were named to the All-MVC first- and second-team, respectively, by the MVC media.
What time does Bradley play today?
What channel is the Bradley vs St. Bonaventure game on today?
Bradley vs St. Bonaventure live stream options
Bradley vs St. Bonaventure will be streaming on X via The Field of 68. Details from Field of 68 on how to watch are here.
Bradley basketball vs St. Bonaventure betting odds
Game lines and odds from BetMGM as of Sunday night:
Bradley basketball schedule
Record: 0-1
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(This story has been updated to add pictures, video and additional information)
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 X.com @icetimecleve.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: ‘There were bright spots’: Bradley rallies to lead in late stretch, but drops opener to St. Bonaventure
Reporting by Dave Eminian, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
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