Creighton 74, Bradley 70

3/7/2008 4:59 PM

ST. LOUIS (AP) -Cavel Witter scored 15 points, including the final six points for Creighton, in a 74-70 win over Bradley Friday in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.

The fourth-seeded Bluejays (21-9) led by as many as 18 points in the first half behind 53 percent shooting, but they shot only 32 percent in the second half. Bradley rallied for a 69-68 lead on Matt Salley's putback with 2:40 to play.

Witter had 42 points in Creighton's 111-110 double-overtime victory on Saturday, the regular-season finale.

Booker Woodfox had 14 and P'Allen Stinnett and Dane Watts had 13 apiece for Creighton, which plays top seeded Drake Saturday in the semifinals.

Theron Wilson scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half for fifth-seeded Bradley (17-15). Jeremy Crouch had 15 points and Matt Salley had 10 points and 13 rebounds.

Witter hit consecutive baskets for a 72-69 lead, then he sealed off Creighton's win with 4.3 seconds to play.

An 11-2 run, including eight points from Wilson, helped Bradley tie it at 67 on Crouch's 3-pointer with 4:14 to go.

Creighton missed its first five shots and fell behind 7-0, then used a trio of runs to go up 36-18 in the first half. Creighton was 14-for-18 during the runs, with Woodfox scoring 11 points. The junior reserve has scored in double figures 12 straight games.