Bradley Basketball: Return of Rienk Mast paying off in the win column

Bradley Basketball is getting healthier and getting wins throughout the non-conference. Rienk Mast’s return has sparked a four-game winning streak.

Bradley Basketball coach Brian Wardle has been patiently waiting for his veteran team to get healthy. His players are on the mend and the Braves are picking up important victories. Not all of the injured players have returned, but the Braves are on the mend.

Just before the season began, preseason all-Valley forward Rienk Mast sustained a knee injury. Three games into the season, starting guard Zek Montgomery broke a bone in his hand and one game later, sixth man Ja’Shon Henry sustained a head injury. Two games later it was guard Conner Hickman injuring an ankle injury.

Not surprisingly the Braves struggled during their early season games. Bradley opened the season 3-3, with one of those victories against a Division 2 squad. Playing shorthanded allowed other players to gain experience and prove they belonged in Wardle’s long-term rotation.

Wardle’s teams typically play with defensive tenacity, rebounding passion, and grit. While playing short-handed depth became an issue. Allowing an uncharacteristic 85 points to Auburn and 84 to Utah State can be attributed to missing the Missouri Valley Conference’s reigning rebounding champion (Mast) and his 240 pounds of paint-filling muscle.

One-by-one the injured players have started to return and the Braves are starting to look like the team that many picked to be the Missouri Valley Conference’s second-best team. Hickman missed just one game and Mast’s return has started the Braves on a winning streak.

Since the Netherlands native returned to the lineup the Braves have won four straight and are playing shutdown defense. During the streak, the Braves (7-3, 2-0) have held all four opponents under 55 points and two of them haven’t reached the 50-point plateau.

After Tuesday’s win at Southern Illinois Edwardsville (NET 100) Wardle says the Bradley offense is still a work in progress, but his team is playing good defense.

“We found a way to win without shooting the ball well,” said Wardle. “We guarded and rebounded well enough to win. Defense can travel and it got us a two-point win.”

Mast has averaged 13 points and 7.8 rebounds since his return and has taken pressure off his Dutch teammate Malevy Leons who was previously carrying the load (12.0 and 6.7). Hickman has seen his production skyrocket with Mast’s return. His interior presence has freed Hickman to average almost 12 points and 5.7 rebounds per game during the streak after averaging just over eight points and two rebounds previously.

Montgomery returned Tuesday night during Bradley’s game with SIUE (7-3). He played just 15 minutes and looked rusty, but the 6’4 sophomore guard grabbed three boards and dished out three assists.

Henry is likely to return soon. The 6’6 senior has been working out with the team and seems to be nearing the end of his restrictions. Henry is one of Bradley’s emotional leaders. He was averaging 13 points and six rebounds per game prior to his injury and he is a physical presence in the Bradley lineup.

With Bradley’s shutdown defense and returning players, the Braves are a team that should contend for the Valley title. They are getting healthy and getting wins.