Bradley rallies 73-66 over defending champ UTEP to win Sun Bowl Invitational
EL PASO, Texas -- Defending champ UTEP fell to Bradley 73-66 on Wednesday night in the championship game of the Sun Bowl Invitational.
Bradley rallied to overcome a 14-point second-half deficit to win the tourney title in a game that saw six ties and seven lead changes - with big scoring runs from both teams.
"We had a chance to win, it's not easy to watch another team hoist the trophy," said UTEP head coach Joe Golding at the post-game news conference. "Credit to Bradley, they're a well-disciplined team and made big shots down the stretch. They executed better than us."
Tournament MVP Terry Roberts had a season-high 26 points and added 11 rebounds to lead Bradley to victory, while Keonte Kennedy had 16 points for the Miners and Souley Boum and Jorell Saterfield each scored 11.
UTEP and Bradley made it to the Sun Bowl Invitational final after eliminating North Carolina Central and Sam Houston, respectively, from the tourney.
UTEP dropped to 7-5 as its three-game win streak was brought to an end by Bradley, who is now 7-6 on the season. The Miners will take a holiday break before opening up conference play at UAB on Dec. 29.
