It doesn't get the hype of the Big 10-ACC Challenge nor the television coverage but last night four schools flew their conference banner and did battle to determine Midwestern mid major supremacy. It ended in a draw. Bradley, representing the MVC, beat Wright State 72-65 in Dayton but their conferencemates from Evansville couldn't hold up their end of the bargain. Valparaiso, newest member of the Horizon, defended their league's pride with a 75-67 win.Bradley nearly knocked off Michigan State last week and came from nine down in the last six minutes to force overtime against a Raider team flying high off their upset of Butler. Andrew Warren led the Braves with 23 points but it was Daniel Ruffin and Theron Wilson's heroics in the extra period that gave Bradley the victory. The Braves will focus on finals for the next week before heading into another pride battle. They'll travel to Butler and by the transitive property of wins, they'll escape with a victory. In Valparaiso, meanwhile, Samuel Haanpaa had 20 points and Urule Igbavboa had 18 points (and my keyboard just gave out) to lead the Crusaders to their ninth victory in 10 games.
Elsewhere on the mid major hardcourts:
Southern Illinois 71, St. Mary's 56 - Adam Rank did a great job wrapping up this game elsewhere on the FanHouse but I thought I'd throw in my two cents. This was a big win for SIU. It snapped a three game losing streak and they finally found the defense that they need to carry them where they want to go this season. For the Gaels, it's not a killer loss or even an upset, really, although I'm sure they hoped for another week in the Top 25. The biggest travesty is that when this game tipped off, untelevised on cable, ESPNU was showing a replay of Temple-Villanova from the night before. Good looking out, Bristol.
Central Connecticut State 58, Maryland-Baltimore County 54 - Even the acronyms for these schools are unwieldy. Pretty decent win for the Blue Devils, who have struggled all season. UMBC was 7-2 and averaging nearly 80 points a game entering the contest.
