Tucked about 30 miles south, most of it farmland, from the rest of its SouthWest Suburban Conference rivals, Bradley-Bourbonnais has earned a reputation for making Donald K. Turner Gymnasium one of the toughest for opponents to find success in.

Lincoln-Way West has seen that better than others, as the Warriors entered Friday’s road game without a win at the Boilermakers in over a decade.

But thanks to a 16-point effort from senior forward Eiden Kubilius and big plays down the stretch from his classmates, Aidan Bach and Drake Been, the Warriors snapped an eight-game road losing streak to the Boilers, pulling away late for a 51-44 win, their first at Bradley-Bourbonnais in 10 years.

“Coming down to Bradley is always tough,” Kubiulius said. “Their gym is a little smaller, so they can pack it full of people. They always have a crowd and coming down here over the years, it’s been tough. Obviously they’re still a good team, maybe not as good as they used to be, but coming down here is a long bus ride.”

The win also snapped a three-game skid for the Warriors (14-16, 5-11 SWSC) in a game that was neck-and-neck early, featuring 10 first-half lead changes, before the Warriors impressed coach Tanner Mitchell with how they were able to keep it together down the stretch.

“That was big for us. We kept teasing each other amongst the coaching staff on the bench, every time we’d get up five, we couldn’t seem to get that stop and bucket to extend it,” Mitchell said. “We finally got a couple stops, hit a couple big 3s down the stretch, and then I thought we did a really good job when they picked up the pressure defense in the final few minutes. ... I thought we did a really good job of keeping our composure.”

Neither team could assert any early dominance in a first half that saw 10 lead changes, four ties and neither team lead by more than four points.

Facing the Boilers’ 2-3 zone, 3-point looks were there early on for the Warriors, but they made just 3 of 11 first-half attempts from downtown. Meanwhile, the Boilers made nearly half of their early 3-point looks, going 6 of 13 from beyond the arc in the first half, including Trey Lawrence’s third triple of the night that gave them a 24-23 halftime lead.

But towards the end of the first half, the Boilers began to switch their 2-3 into a 1-3-1, which allowed Kubilius to get going. He had eight first-half points, including a perfect 6-for-6 start from the free-throw line, to keep the Warriors within striking distance.

And in the third, they started to find some breathing room thanks in large part to a 2-1-2 press that forced five Boiler turnovers in the third quarter. Mitchell said an athletic Boiler backcourt forced the change, one that wound up working in their favor.

“They started to get into a little bit of a rhythm against our half-court man,” Mitchell said. “They have some really quick kids that can get to the basket, we’d have to help and they’d kick it out for some 3s there. We decided to change it up, give them a different look and we forced a few turnovers that were a big part of us being able to extend our lead a bit.”

After trading early blows in the third, Bach buried his third 3-pointer of the game to give the Warriors a 29-26 lead two minutes into the frame, the last lead change of the game.

Been buried a 3-pointer with 3:50 left to make it 43-39 and quickly followed it with a steal and easy layup seconds later. On their next possession, after running nearly a minute off the clock, Bach hit the dagger from downtown that put things on ice at 48-39 with just over two minutes left.

Kubilius tallied 16 points, eight rebounds, two assists and three steals. Bach’s 12 points all came from downtown, while Been was also in double figures with 10.

The Boilers (6-21, 1-14) got 16 points, five rebounds and two assists from Lawrence and 12 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals from Kobe Lawrence. Although Friday’s result was much closer than their 62-38 loss at Lincoln-Way West last month, Boilers coach Eric Long said it was tough to appreciate the progress after dropping a winnable game.

“That’s a game we should have won,” Long said. “We feel like we should have been better than them tonight. It’s disappointing. I guess the only good news is it hurts more when you lose and know you can win.

“Through various points in the year, I don’t think we knew we could win, but we know we can win now,” he added. “I guess it’s an improvement, but it doesn’t feel like it right now.”