Bradley basketball took a small step forward Friday. Unfortunately, it could easily have been a giant leap.
The Braves lost to mid-major power Vermont 65-64 in the first round of the Islands of the Bahamas Showcase in Nassau.
We’d be talking about Brian Wardle’s signature win as Bradley’s coach if a last-second shot by BU forward Donte Thomas had dropped through instead of bounding away as the final buzzer sounded.
“We were right there,” Wardle said by phone from Nassau. “Our older guys expected to win the game, we just didn’t finish it. We made some mental mistakes defensively in the last two minutes.