University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Bradley
UNI Squeezes Past Bradley, 52-50
1/12/2010 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - The University of Northern Iowa men's basketball squad squeezed past the Bradley University Braves, 52-50, to improve to 15-1 on the season and 6-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference. UNI moved its win streak to 14 in a row with the triumph.
The Panthers bounced out to a 10-2 advantage behind a couple of three-pointers from senior guard Ali Farohkmanesh and forced Bradley into a timeout before the 16-minute mark of the first half. But the Braves clawed back into the contest and eventually knotted the game at 14-14 with 8:48 to go on a bucket from Taylor Brown.
UNI took a 20-17 lead on third triple of the half from Farohkmanesh with 5:25 before intermission before Bradley mounted a surge of its own. The Braves ran off eight straight points and took its largest lead of the night at 25-20 with 1:48 left in the half. The Panthers failed to score a field goal from the 5:25 mark until only 49 seconds remained in the half. Bradley took a 27-26 lead into the half following a basket by Sam Maniscalco.
UNI regained the lead for good on a conventional three-point play from Eglseder on the Panthers' second possession of the second half. Eglseder's free throw gave the Panthers a 29-27 lead.
Bradley's Sam Singh corralled a loose ball and scored a layup with 16:35 left in the game to pull the Braves to within one at 33-32. But a Farokhmanesh three-pointer and an Adam Koch dunk gave the Panthers a six-point bulge with 14:56 remaining. A breakaway dunk by Bradley's Andrew Warren sliced the lead to three at 38-35 and quiet the McLeod Center crowd. But a 7-0 Panther run that included a pair of buckets from Lucas O'Rear and a rare two-point field goal by Farokhmanesh moved the margin to 10 with 10:45 remaining.
The Braves would not go quietly and knocked the lead down to one on two occasions in the final 2:30 of the contest. Chris Roberts drained a shot to make it 49-48 in favor of the Panthers with 2:22 remaining, but UNI's Kwadzo Ahelegbe moved it back to a three-point lead on a jumper in the lane with 30.7 ticks left.
Bradley's Maniscalco knocked down a jumper with 22.5 seconds left to bring the Braves back to within one point. Ahelegbe then hit the front end of a 1-and-1 and missed on the back end for a two-point lead at 52-50. UNI head coach Ben Jacobson then instructed his team to foul since the Panthers had committed only three fouls in the half.
Farokhmanesh fouled Maniscalco on three occasions in the final 20 seconds, the last coming with 0.6 seconds on the clock. Bradley then attempted an in-bounds pass toward the rim but the Panthers knocked it away and hung on for the 52-50 victory.
UNI will be back in action Saturday at 7:05 p.m. against the Indiana State Sycamores. The Panthers-Sycamores game will be broadcast by the Panther Sports Network on KWWL (Ch. 7.3) and Cedar Falls Utilities (Ch. 15).
NOTES: The 14-game win streak ties the UNI school record set back in the 1962-63 and 1963-64 when the Panthers won 14 in a row over two seasons ... UNI is off to a perfect 6-0 start in MVC play ... Farokhmanesh led the Panthers with 14 points ... Eglseder notched his sixth double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds ... it marked the fourth time this season that UNI trailed at the half - UNI is 4-0 in those contests ... Bradley fell to 7-9 overall and 2-4 in the MVC ... Maniscalco scored a game-high 15 points for the Braves.
