Bradley University had an answer for every part of SIUC’s offensive strategy Saturday afternoon.

The Braves became the first team to dominate the Salukis on the backboards this season with a 45-32 advantage. Bradley also used a 31-3 edge on scoring from its bench and held off two late Saluki runs for an 86-76 win in Peoria.

After falling behind by as many as 12 points in the second half, the Salukis rallied behind long-range shooting. SIUC made 12 three-pointers in the game and drew to within three points with 2:40 left, but the Braves sealed the 10-point win at the free throw line.

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The Salukis fell into a seventh-place tie with Bradley in the Missouri Valley Conference at 7-8 and 12-13 overall. The Braves improved to 7-8 and 11-12 overall.

They had the advantage on the boards. There’s no doubt about that, Herrin said in his postgame radio show. They’re a very good rebounding basketball team. I want our guys to rebound hard, and at times we did. But the ball didn’t bounce very good for us, and we didn’t always get four guys to the ball.

Bradley dominated nearly every offensive category Saturday. Along with their advantage on the backboards and standout play from their bench, Bradley had a 23-8 edge from the free throw line. The Braves forced SIUC into shooting 38 percent from the field and used numerous breakaway layups to shoot 53 percent.

When you don’t rebound the ball really hard that lets them get the transition game going, Herrin said. If they didn’t get them uncontested, they got them two on one, three on two. We made a lot of runs, we just never could close it. They made some nice runs, there’s no doubt about it.

The Salukis were within striking range all afternoon but could never get over the hump. SIUC opened a 12-7 lead on a thunderous dunk by senior forward Rashad Tucker, but Bradley came right back to take a 16-15 lead with 11 minutes remaining.

The Braves opened the lead to 30-20 with 6:30 left, but the Salukis closed the gap to 38-33 by halftime. SIUC shot just 37 percent from the field in the first half and trailed in the rebounding column 27-18.

In the second half, the Salukis relied heavily on three-point bombs from senior guard Shane Hawkins and junior guard Monte Jenkins to hang close. The Braves opened a 61-49 lead with 11 minutes left, but the Salukis cut that lead to 72-68 on two three-pointers by Hawkins with 4:43 remaining.

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After two free throws by Bradley senior Adebayo Akinkunle, Tucker closed the gap to 74-71 on a three-point play with 2:40 left. But Braves freshman Jerome Robinson hit six free throws down the stretch as Bradley pulled out the win.

We did come back very strong, Herrin said. We made two big runs and came back in the basketball game. It was a game of streaks, and that’s what you try not to have. But we got ourselves back into position to win at least twice.

The Salukis dominated the Braves behind the arc 12-1, but SIUC attempted 33 three-pointers, while Bradley had only five attempts.

Bradley sophomore Rob Dye led five Braves in double figures in scoring with 18. Hawkins paced the Salukis with a game-high 24 points, including six threes. Jenkins added 19 on seven of 23 shooting while Tucker poured in 14 and sophomore forward Chris Thunell had 10.

SIUC travels to Terre Haute, Ind., for a battle with Indiana State University Wednesday night in its final road game of the regular season. Indiana State is in sixth place in conference play.

We just need to win basketball games, Herrin said. We’ve played here, and we just didn’t get the job done. We’ll try to beat Indiana State and we’ll close with two at home, and we’d like to win the last three. It will be a good ballgame.

SIUC travels to Terre Haute, Ind., for a matchup with Indiana State University at 6:05 p.m. Wednesday.

The game can be seen on WSIU channel 8 and heard on WXLT 95.1 FM or at http://www.siu.edu/~athletic.