PEORIA, Ill. -- Darrell Brown had 17 points and Donte Thomas added 13 with 12 rebounds as Bradley started fast and finished strong for a 66-53 win over Evansville on Saturday night to surpass its win total of last season.

Bradley (14-7, 4-4 Missouri Valley Conference), which has won ten straight at home, was 13-20 for the 2016-17 season.

Bradley was up 36-25 at the break and led 55-41 with 7:18 remaining. Blake Simmons nailed a 3-point jumper to start a 9-1 run as Evansville closed to 56-50 with 3:22 left. Brown answered with six straight points to get the Braves out front 62-52 and they cruised to the win.

Brown hit three treys, making 6 of 16 from the floor. Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye added 12 points with nine rebounds and four assists, and Elijah Childs chipped in 11 points with eight rebounds.

Simmons had 12 points to reach the 1,000-point mark in his career and Ryan Taylor added 10 for Evansville (12-9, 2-6), which lost its third straight game.