Bradley’s “Arch Madness” concludes

From John Searby…

All of the shots seemed to fall the way of the Northern Iowa Panthers on Saturday afternoon in St. Louis, but it didn’t deter Braves fans from passionately rooting on their team.

Saturday’s festivities started in the restaurant of the Renaissance Hotel as Bradley fans gathered around the buffet in droves to speculate about what the day had in store. The lobby continued to fill as fans prepared to send off the team in style and then headed to J. Buck’s for a pre-game party. Nearly 800 Bradley faithful visited the popular St. Louis watering hole and were joined by the Bradley basketball band and cheerleaders for a spirited rally to get fired up.

As the game began at the Scottrade Center, Bradley fans cheered on their team with pride. The first half was full of excitement as the action was back and forth, and Coach Jim Les juggled his foul strapped line-up by using senior walk-on Brian Lavin at the end of the half to go to the break with a tie.

The second half found the Braves fighting and clawing to hang in the game but finally succumbing to the hot shooting Panthers, 76-62. Theron Wilson completed his senior season with 16 points.

The loss didn’t dampen the spirit of the Bradley faithful as they continued to cheer the Braves to the end and stuck around to enjoy the rest of the weekend at “Arch Madness,” the home of America’s basketball conference. It was a weekend to remember for Bradley fans and an experience that all friends, alumni, and students should take part in next year. But here’s hoping for a few more games this March as we wait to see if we have a postseason ticket.