Fighting Bees fall to Bradley

By Dan Tomlin
from: The Dispatch - Rock Island Argus

Thursday, November 1st, 2007

PEORIA -- For five minutes at the end of the first half, the St. Ambrose University men's basketball team looked like it was going to give the Bradley Braves all they could handle.

Then, the second half came and the Braves ran the court with reckless abandon, tearing their way through the Fighting Bees, 110-84 in an historic exhibition game at Robertson Memorial Fieldhouse.

To end the first half, SAU went on a 16-4 run and trailed the Div. I program just 46-40 at the break.

Bradley turned around with a 27-9 run of its own midway through the second half, ending the Bees' dreams of beating the country's 41st-ranked team.

A lot of Brave 3s went down the proverbial drain as well -- 15 to be exact. As the Bees downed just three treys in what turned out to be the most glaring of stats.

"We played fairly well in the first half; in fact if we make our free throws we're tied or have the lead," SAU coach Ray Shovlain said. "Then they came out in the second half and made a couple of 3s."

The obvious sarcasm in Shovlain's voice showed his good humor over falling to the team picked to challenge for the Missouri Valley Conference crown.

Adam Fahrenkrog led the Bees with 25 points and was happy with the intensity of the team and the potential this team showed.

"Something to hang our hat on was that we were right there at halftime," Fahrenkrog said. "With a few less blunders in the second half we would've given them a close game down the stretch."

Shovlain also rallied his troops with the fact that the Braves were on their heels with 17 minutes to play with SAU down just six.

"Coach told us in the huddle, `Bradley just called a timeout because they have to regroup against you guys, how about that,"' Fahrenkrog said.

Too bad for the Bees that the Braves did just that. Out of the timeout, the hosts went on an 18-4 run over the next six minutes to stifle any SAU comeback thoughts.

-- Tough road to hoe: Shovlain always dreamed he'd be coaching on the hardwood at the University of Notre Dame. He just figured to be wearing green. Tonight, the Bees will take on the Fighting Irish on the hardwood for the first time. The Fighting Irish are ranked 51st in the country in pre-season polls, and should be an even tougher test for the Bees, who left Peoria for South Bend at 10 p.m.

"Well we don't have to play another game for a week, so that'll give our legs some time to rest," Fahrenkrog said. "We're going to give them everything we've got."

-- A game to remember: Thursday night's game at Bradley's stately Robertson Memorial Fieldhouse was also a historical game for both teams, as it was the last men's basketball game there. The airplane hangar-turned-gymnasium is slated for destruction to make room for a new facility, and a near sellout crowd watched BU run the floor one last time. While they haven't played their regular season games on campus since 1982, the Braves enjoyed much success at the fieldhouse, including winning the NIT their final year calling it home.

-- Les' dad HOFer: Part of the reason the Bees got the game against the Braves was thanks to Bradley coach Jim Les' father, Richard. The elder Les is a former Fighting Bee gridder who was inducted into the SAU hall of fame last year as a member of the undefeated 1950 football team.