WEST LIBERTY, W. Va. – Urbana (1-5, 0-3 MEC) hung with No. 10 West Liberty (5-1, 3-0 MEC) on the road, trailing by one near the break, but the Blue Knights went cold in the second half and fell by a final of 97-73.
UU led WLU early on as junior guard
Jordan Bradley sparked the Blue Knights with 10 of the team's first 18 points. The Blue Knights started 5 of 6 from the field and claimed a 16-14 lead on a Bradley layup with 15:05 in the first half.
A 10-2 run lifted WLU back in front at the under-10 media timeout, but the Blue Knights kept within striking distance.
Hadley LeVan's 3-pointer cut the deficit to five, 34-29, with five minutes left in the half. Then two minutes later, a bucket from
Zach Bates trimmed it down to one, 38-37, at the 3:21 mark. But, that was as close as UU could get.
WLU closed the opening half on a 15-6 run to lead by 10 at halftime, 53-43. However, the Blue Knights out-shot the Hilltoppers in the opening 20 minutes with a 59-percent team shooting mark.
The Blue Knights started just 2 of 9 from the floor in the second half as WLU climbed ahead.
Malik Jacobs' and-one, three-point play made it 66-53 WLU with 13 minutes left in the game, but UU couldn't get back within single digits.
Bradley finished with a career-high 18 points with four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Three others reached double figures including Jacobs (13),
Ethan Snapp (13) and
Matt Treacy (10). The Blue Knights shot 45 percent overall and 32 percent from three-point range. UU finished just 1 of 11 from beyond the arc in the second half.
WLU's Dalton Bolon led all scorers with 24 points but had a game-high five turnovers. Will Yoakum (14) and Yahel Hill (13) also scored in double digits. The Hilltoppers shot 55 percent overall from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arc.
Both teams had 15 turnovers while the Hilltoppers held a 44-25 edge on the boards.
Despite the loss, Wednesday's game resulted in the first occasion during the all-time series with West Liberty that the Blue Knights have kept the Hilltoppers under 100 points in back-to-back matchups.
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UU will host its home opener Saturday against Wheeling Jesuit with a 4 p.m. tipoff inside the Grimes Center.
