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PEORIA, Illinois – The Wofford men’s basketball team used a career-high 29 points from Kevin Giltner on the way to a 70-66 victory at Bradley on Tuesday night at Carver Arena. The Terriers had a twelve point lead with six minutes remaining, but needed to withstand a late surge by the Braves for the four-point win.

Wofford is 2-2 on the season and Bradley is 3-1 after their first home loss of the season. The Terriers were led by Kevin Giltner with 29 points, including five three pointer, and twelve each from Karl Cochran and Drew Crowell. Crowell had his first career double-double with ten rebounds. The Braves were led by Dyricus Simms-Edwards with 22 points and Taylor Brown had a double-double with 16 points and eleven rebounds.

“I am thrilled with the win and proud of our group of puppies,” said head coach Mike Young. “They did bend some, but they played with great passion and they try like crazy to do the right things. What you saw there late is just a product of youth. To see those eyes wide as big as saucers in an unbelievable environment when things start to roar could have been a problem, but they stuck with it and helped us get a very nice road win early in the year.”

The Terriers opened the game with a 4-0 lead after a bucket from Drew Crowell and two free throws by Kevin Giltner. Bradley tied the game at four and it was tied at six three minutes into the contest. The teams traded three pointers for nine points each at the first media time out. Wofford used three pointers by Kevin Giltner and Brad Loesing for a 15-12 lead and the Terriers had a 17-16 advantage with 10:47 left in the first half.

Back-to-back threes by Kevin Giltner and Karl Cochran increased the Wofford lead to 23-18 with 8:26 on the clock. Another shot by Giltner made it a 25-18 lead as the Terriers were on a 10-2 run. With less than four minutes left in the first half, Giltner hit a jumper for a 29-21 advantage. The Braves went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to two, but Kevin Giltner ended the run with a three. Drew Crowell added a jumper and a put-back for a 36-27 lead at the break.

The Terriers scored first to open the second half and after a shot by Kevin Giltner, Wofford had a 42-31 lead with 16:59 on the clock. Bradley scored the next six points to make it a 42-37 game before a shot by Drew Crowell ended the run. With the score 44-40, neither team scored for the next two minutes until the Braves cut the lead to two points with ten minutes on the clock.

Wofford was then able to use a quick 9-2 run that included a three by Karl Cochran to make it a 53-46 game with nine minutes left in the second half. The Terriers were up 57-48 with 7:37 remaining after a bucket by Aerris Smith was good after a goaltending call. Kevin Giltner added back-to-back threes to push the Wofford lead back to 63-51 with six minute left. Bradley though responded with a 6-0 run to cut the lead, but Drew Crowell ended the run with a shot to make it 65-57 with 3:07 remaining.

A three pointer by Karl Cochran with 1:59 left gave the Terriers a 68-59 advantage. Bradley though would go on a quick 5-0 run to cut the lead back to 68-64 with 1:23 on the clock. After two free throws, the Braves were within two points. Wofford turned the ball over with twenty seconds left, but a shot by Bradley with seven seconds was missed and Brad Loesing got the rebound. Loesing added two free throws with four seconds on the clock to ice the game with a 70-66 final score.

Wofford shot 45.9% from the floor while Bradley shot 38.7% overall. The Terriers were 10-of-23 from three, while the Braves were 4-of-17 from behind the arc. Wofford was 4-of-10 from the line and Bradley was 14-of-22 from the line. The Terriers had a 44-36 lead in rebounds, but had 19 turnovers in the contest.

The Terriers will continue play in the Chicago Invitational Classic on Friday at 3:30 pm ET against UMKC at the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates. The Tournament concludes on Saturday against either Longwood or Prairie View A&M. Wofford returns home on December 1 against Davidson in the SoCon opener for both teams.