Tough Lessons @ Bradley & SIUE

(St. Louis, MO) – Third year coaches and former teammates Brian Wardle and Jon Harris are working hard at turning basketball programs in the right direction. Sometimes the best lessons are learned the hard way. Learning from losses is not fun, but both coaches are embracing the process.

Wardle is working on building a Bradley program from the ground up. His first season he recruited a huge group of freshmen and has taken plenty of lumps over the first two years, but his steady hand has helped that squad mature into a very competitive gaggle of juniors.

Harris has struggled to put together a consistent roster and Southern Illinois Edwardsville won just six games in each of his first two seasons. The Cougars (7-12, 3-5) have already exceeded their win totals in those first two years, but a winless two-game home stand has dampened optimism that had been growing for the Ohio Valley Conference team.

During Bradley’s ‘War on 74’ defeat at Illinois State, Wardle sounded genuinely encouraged by their 13 point defeat. The former Marquette Golden Eagle is committed to players and learning lessons and growing into a sturdy team. The Braves are winless in four conference road games, but Wardle sees signs of life.

 

 

After SIUE’s 11 point home loss to Morehead State, Harris, a teammate of Wardle and Dwyane Wade at Marquette, felt like his team’s second half defensive effort showed they are learning some the key lessons his team still has to learn. They held Skyhawks’ leading scorer Matthew Butler to 7 points, and after yielding 42 first half points, they allowed just 28 second half points.

Harris says teams have to ‘learn how to win’.

 

 

Wardle sees light at the end of the tunnel. Even in the loss at Normal, he could see his team playing with energy and some of his players leading with aggressiveness and energy. In Wardle’s first season the Braves won five games. Last season, they grew to 13 victories, a total they eclipsed with Saturday’s win over Evansville.

With the growing energy and leadership of senior Donte Thomas and junior Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye, Wardle says he expects his team to ‘break out’ very soon.

 

 

Bradley is 4-0 in conference games at Carver Arena and play three of their next four games in Peoria, and could be poised to climb the Valley standings.

The Cougars, while leaning heavily on senior Jalen Henry, have some young players around whom to build. David McFarland had two explosive offensive games this week and sophomore Christian Ellis is a solid point guard, but there are big needs in the SIUE lineup.

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