Recap of Bradley Braves basketball win over Coppin State, plus preview of George Mason duel

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Bradley Braves men’s basketball team held off an upset-minded Coppin State team Thursday at the Showdown in St. Pete.

Bradley rallied in the second half and held on in the final seconds to earn its first victory against an NCAA Div.-I opponent in the 2026-27 season, a 56-54 decision at McArthur Center on the campus of Eckerd College.

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“We’ll take ugly wins right now, we’re playing ugly, we’re not playing real well,” Bradley head coach Brian Wardle said in a postgame broadcast interview. “I’m glad we could pull it out, I’m glad we found a way, but we don’t listen. We didn’t listen the whole first half. We don’t listen very well as a team, didn’t listen to the coaches, didn’t listen to each other.

“I’m happy this group can feel a win, but we have so much we got to improve on, and really just the focus on listening is probably No. 1 right now.”

Bradley Braves wing Timoty van der Knaap drives against a Coppin State defender during the Braves’ 56-54 win at the Showdown in St. Pete on Nov. 12, 2026 in St. Petersburg, Fla.

A close call at the finish

Brendan Johnson sank a pull-up jumper with 38 seconds left to give Coppin State a 54-53 lead.

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The Braves’ answering possession saw a missed layup by Jackson Seastrunk with 17 seconds left. But BU forward Xander Alerie went up to the rim in a tip-in bid, and while contesting it, Coppin State’s Jamari Piercy inadvertently tipped the ball into the net for a 55-54 Bradley lead.

The play went under video review and was upheld, with the basket credited to Alerie.

Alerie split a pair of free throws to give BU a 56-54 lead with 4 seconds left. Coppin State tried a desperation 3-pointer from Hussain Williams at the buzzer, but it was no good.

“I told the bench we got to be calm the whole second half because our guys were panicking a little bit out there … man there’s so much we got to do better,” Wardle said. “This group is trying … they do want to get better, they do want to work. We gotta…

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Publish date : 2026-11-13 06:11:00

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