PEORIA, Ill. – Millikin Men's Basketball opened the 2019-20 season Tuesday night in Peoria, Illinois as they faced reigning Missouri Valley Conference Champions Bradley University in a pre-season exhibition game at Carver Arena. The last time the two teams met was on March 2, 1940 where the Braves would defeat the Big Blue 30-29. Bradley entered the game with an overall series record of 30-23 against Millikin, going 8-2 in their last 10 meetings before Tuesday night's tilt.
 
Head Coach Mark Scherer went with Cole Laurence, Korbin Farmer, Zach Fisher, Calvin Fisher and Troy Burrows for tonight's starting lineup. The game started with the Big Blue winning the tip-off, leading to a Korbin Farmer layup to put Millikin on the board first. Bradley would then go on a nine-point scoring run before 6'7 sophomore Michael Akinwumi ended the run on an alley-oop assisted by freshman guard Sam Stichnote. At the end of the half, Cole Laurence led the Big Blue with six rebounds while Zach Fisher led in points for Millikin with five.

Bradley opened scoring in the second half on a Nate Kennell three pointer 1:32 into the half. 26 seconds later, Zach Fisher would answer for Millikin with a three pointer of his own. Fisher would sink another three 31 seconds later, drawing a foul and making the free throw to make it a four point play for the Big Blue. The senior guard would score make another three a minute later, scoring his fifteenth point of the night 3:26 into the half. Bradley would go on to defeat Millikin with a final score of 91 to 52.  

After a solid start to the second half, Fisher would lead the Big Blue in scoring with 18 points on the night, tying Bradley's Ville Tahvanainen for most points in the game. Fisher would also lead the game in steals, recording three in 30 minutes played. Cole Laurence recorded nine steals on the night, three less than the game's leader, Elijah Childs, who posted 12 for the Braves.

Millikin return home on November 10 as they host the University of Chicago Maroons at the Griswold Center at 4:00 PM for their regular season opener.