Last second shot ends Braves NIT run

One second.

That is all that remained on the clock when Craig Wise tipped in a rebound for Canisius to stop Bradley's advance through the National Invitational Tournament at the second round with a 55-53 loss.

"It's disappointing," Bradley coach Jim Molinari said. "It's a tough way to end the season."

After pulling out a win against Eastern Michigan in double overtime last week, it looked like Monday night's game was headed for a similar result. With the score tied at 53 and just over five seconds left in regulation, Canisius called timeout to set up a play.

The inbounds play went to Michael Meeks, who was trying to find an open Wise or Darrell Barley. Neither was open, so Meeks was forced to shoot.

"I just put it up and hoped for the best," Meeks said.

The best worked out for the Golden Griffins as Wise gathered the loose ball.

"(Barley) crashed the boards and got a hand on it," Wise said. "I was able to pick it up and lay it in. After it went through, pandemonium. I felt good, everyone felt good."

The Bradley defense held Canisius in check the entire game, but the Braves struggled offensively in the second half, which kept them from shutting the door on Canisius.

"Our defense was great," Molinari said. "But we got impatient offensively in the second half and didn't move the ball to get good shots."

"We were still trying to be aggressive, maybe over aggressive," Bradley guard Aaron Zobrist said. "We stopped running and held back to one pass and a shot every once in a while."

With 13 minutes left in the game, a rebound dunk by Anthony Parker put BU up by 11 and brought the crowd of 8,883 to its feet. It appeared at that point that the Golden Griffins were all but finished.

However, Chris Young came back on Canisius' next possession to take the crowd back out of the game.

Seven minutes later, Deon Jackson drove the baseline for a slam that brought the crowd to life again. But Canisius answered with another trey, this time by Barley.

"The key plays were not down the stretch," Canisius coach John Beilein said. "It was where (Bradley) was really coming and the crowd was loud, and (Young) hit a three, and (Barley) hit a three."

"It looked like we had control of the game, but we didn't win," Molinari said.

Despite making the NIT for the second consecutive season--a feat last accomplished in 1964-65--and posting a 20-10 record, the Braves had hoped to go further.

"We're definitely better than 20-10; we're capable of being a really top program, but we're also a team capable of having a really down season," said forward Dwayne Funches. "We are two teams right now--a team that can beat anybody and a team that can be beaten by anybody."

Despite the loss, Molinari said the season was not a failure.

"I don't think these kids have failed. There's a difference between failure and defeat," Molinari said. "Failure is permanent, while defeat is temporary. We were defeated."

Bradley's Dwayne Funches hangs on the rim after a slam in the Braves' loss to Canisius 55-53. Funches had 8 points in the second round NIT game. Photo by Michelle Grossman.