PEORIA, Ill. -- — Zek Montgomery scored 13 points as Bradley beat Northern Iowa 73-56 on Sunday to break a tie for second-place in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Montgomery went 5 of 10 from the field (2 for 3 from 3-point range) for the Braves (24-7, 15-5 Missouri Valley Conference). Darius Hannah scored 11 points while finishing 4 of 5 from the floor and added six rebounds. Ahmet Jonovic shot 4 of 7 from the field to finish with 10 points, while adding eight rebounds.

Ben Schwieger finished with 11 points for the Panthers (20-11, 14-6). Max Weisbrod added 11 points for Northern Iowa. Tytan Anderson also recorded nine points.

Bradley took the lead with 3:50 remaining in the first half and did not relinquish it. Jaquan Johnson led the team in scoring with eight points in the first half to help put them up 45-36 at the break. Bradley pulled away with a 13-0 run in the second half to extend an eight-point lead to 21 points. The Braves outscored Northern Iowa by eight points in the final half, as Montgomery led the way with a team-high 11 second-half points.

Bradley takes second place and Northern Iowa finishes third in the MVC regular season. Both teams have a first-round bye and play on Friday in the conference tournament. Arch Madness begins on Thursday in St. Louis.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.