AKRON, Ohio — With no video streaming option available for Bradley’s neutral-court game against Duquesne, Bradley fans could only listen to the call of BU’s radio crew of Dave Snell and Chad Kleine.

And the pain and disbelief in their voices told the story as the Braves dropped their fifth straight game, 69-67, to the Dukes at LeBron James Arena on the campus of St. Vincent-St. Mary’s High School in Akron.

BOX SCORE: Duquesne 69, Bradley 67

With the game tied at 67, Bradley had the ball out of bounds on the sideline of its offensive halfcourt and under six seconds to play.

On the inbound, senior forward Malevy Leons spotted teammate Darius Hannah open as he cut down the lane after coming off a back pick. What Leons didn’t see was Duquesne’s Jimmy Clark sneaking in from the weak side.

Clark intercepted the pass and snapped a pass ahead to teammate David Dixon, whose fastbreak layup cleared the net with just two-tenths of a second remaining. With nothing but a tip-in as the only option to score, the Braves attempted a hail mary that was intercepted by the Dukes as time expired.

“We just didn’t execute that last play,” Hannah said.

What Bradley learned in the loss

Bradley coach Brian Wardle blamed himself on the pivitol play. “I should have called time out, that’s all me,” he said. “I thought myself and my staff have to do better for this team. I should have done the thinking and not them. That’s a play we’ve never run before, and it’s something I wish I would have burned that last timeout for sure.”

Despite the loss, Wardle saw some things to build on as they return home to face SIU-Edwardsville at Carver Arena on Thursday.

“The team had competitive spirit,” Wardle said. “The effort was there, we didn’t always play smart again and we can still control the controllables a lot better as a group, but overall the spirit and effort was there to win the game.”

The Braves (6-5) built a three-point halftime lead to as much as 52-42 at the first media timeout of the second half. A hook shot by Leons to made it 56-47 with 13:07 left in the game. However, that left the Braves — as the Hall of Fame broadcaster Snell likes to say — stuck on a number. The Dukes (8-2) scored six straight to cut the lead before Bradley point guard Duke Deen hit a step-back jumper to make it 58-53.

But the Dukes started a fresh surge and scored the next seven points, including a 3-pointer by Dae Dae Grant to start the run. They capped it with a layup by Andrei Savrasov off another assist by Clark. All told, the Braves suffered through a 1-for-7 drought with three turnovers in that nearly eight-minute span of game time.

Inexperience and turnovers hurt Bradley

The turnovers were a problem for the Braves all night as they turned the ball over a season-high 19 times and assisted on just 10 of their 26 field goals.

“We just tried to do too much at times,” Wardle said. “Guys were just trying to drive into gaps that weren’t there, over-dribbled at times and we’re young.

“We’re young right now. You’ve got 'E' (Marquette transfer Emarion Ellis) who hasn’t played a whole lot and Demarion Burch, Almar Atlason and Ahmet Jonovic, who are all newcomers. And our newcomers need to do a better job of taking care of the ball.”

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Ellis and Burch, in particular, have found themselves forced into more floor time as the Braves continue to be without their offensive and defensive leader, Connor Hickman. The junior guard is still dealing with an ankle injury suffered against Indiana State on Dec. 2. Wardle offered no timeline for the return of Hickman.

“Honestly as a coach, I don’t get involved with any medical decisions, I coach the guys that are on the court,” Wardle said. “I hope he comes back soon.

“We need him because he’s one of our best players at both ends of the floor and one of our leaders and best playmakers.”

Experimenting with the bench

In an effort to replicate some of what the Braves are missing with Hickman, Wardle experimented with Cade Hardtke, a 6-foot-2 junior walk-on guard from Lombard. Hardtke checked in with the Braves trailing 13-8 and he promptly helped the Braves reel off 10 consecutive points to grab their first lead of the night.

“Cade is solid and doesn’t make mistakes,” Wardle said. “He executes whatever we call, he’s in the right position at the right time defensively and he’s a smart player and we need that consistent, smart play right now so he might see more opportunities moving forward."

Duke Deen led the Braves with 15 points, while Hannah chipped in 14. As the team returns home for 10 days sandwiched around Christmas, Wardle is hoping his team can heal a bit physically and mentally.

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“We have to find a way to win and get our confidence back, get that belief back,” said Wardle, whose squad fought its way to a 6-0 start that was beginning to draw national attention as a mid-major to watch. Their current five-game loss streak is BU's longest since losing six in a row from Jan. 20 to Feb. 1 during 2020-21 MVC play.

“The guys are pretty hurt at the last couple of games when we’ve had leads and haven’t been able to finish the game," he said. “Hopefully we can get hot at home, but we’ve got to get back and get to work in practice and shooting. That will be big."

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Bradley Braves men's basketball team loses on road at Duquesne