A combined 14 points separated the winners from the losers across three Horizon League contests on Monday night. By the end of the evening, the race for the Horizon League regular season crown was more muddled, as Butler, Detroit and Wright State walked off the court with victories.
At Hinkle Fieldhouse, Butler (16-9, 8-5 Horizon) was down two starters for the entire second half, but pulled away from a game UIC (6-18, 1-12 Horizon) squad midway through the second half, holding on for a 72-65 decision. Chase Stigall left with a knee injury, while Matt Howard was felled with an inadvertent elbow that left his face bloodied at the half.
In their place the Bulldogs bench stepped up, contributing 31 points. With Shelvin Mack leading the way with 17 points, Zach Hahn, Ronald Nored and Khyle Marshall combined for the 31 points off the bench. The bench led the way as Butler turned a 46-44 advantage with 12:16 to play into a 13-point lead with 7:42 remaining. Still, UIC closed to within four points at 62-58 on a Paul Carter jumper with four minutes and change.
Buckets by Mack and Marshall pushed the Butler lead back to double digits with 2:35 on the clock to help seal the result.
Robo Kreps finished with a game-high 22 points, his third straight contest with more than 20. Carter collected a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
The victory lifted the Bulldogs into a tie for fourth place in the Horizon League with Milwaukee, who holds the tiebreaker advantage over Butler. The teams are 1.5 games in back of Wright State and Cleveland State.
Cleveland State (21-5, 10-4 Horizon) fell out of first place in the Horizon League after an 81-78 setback at Detroit (14-12, 8-6 Horizon). A tip-in by Eli Holman gave the Titans the lead for good with just over four minutes remaining, and Detroit was able to hold the Vikings at bay in the closing moments.
Detroit did not lead by more than a sole possession down the stretch until 56 seconds remained on the clock, when another Holman tip put the Titans ahead, 76-71. However, Cleveland State did not go down without a fight, as Norris Cole drained a three-pointer shortly thereafter to bring the Vikings within two.
Ray McCallum missed a jumper in the waning seconds of the shot clock, but a loose ball foul put Nick Minnerath at the charity stripe for the Titans; the junior hit the first of two, collecting his 26th point of the evening, a new career best for the Massachusetts native. Aaron Pogue matched Minnerath by splitting a pair of free throws for Cleveland State, before Holman converted two from the line to restore the Titans' four-point advantage.
Still, Cole was not done, draining another three to bring the Vikings within a point; however, 0.8 ticks remained on the clock and Chris Blake provided the game's final margin with two free throws. Holman got a piece of Cole's attempt to tie from beyond half court, giving the Titans their third straight win, all at Calihan Hall.
Minnerath went 10-for-14 from the floor in collecting his career high, while Holman held down the paint with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Chris Blake and Chase Simon added 13 and 10, respectively, for Detroit. Cole paced Cleveland State with 27 points, coming on 12-of-22 shooting. Jeremy Montgomery and Aaron Pogue each had 15, while Trevon Harmon posted 13 for the Vikings.
Wright State (17-9, 10-4 Horizon) picked up its third straight victory, after holding on for a 74-70 triumph over Youngstown State (8-16, 2-12 Horizon). Cole Darling gave the Raiders the lead for good with a pair of free throws with 78 seconds remaining as Wright State improved to 12-1 at the WSU Nutter Center this season.
Trying to hold on, N'Gai Evans came up with a steal and layup to push the lead to three, but Kendrick Perry came right back with a step-back jumper to bring Youngstown State within 71-70 with 36.8 ticks left. On the Raiders next possession, Evans knocked down a pair of free throws to make it a 73-70 game with 17.2 left on the clock.
The Penguins missed a three on their next possession, and Matt Vest sealed the contest with a lone free throw.
Featuring 15 ties and 16 lead changes, neither team led by more than four points before Youngstown State opened a 45-40 lead after scoring the first seven points of the second half. Wright State countered with a 9-2 spurt to take back a 49-47 lead on a Vaughn Duggins jumper. The teams exchanged the lead until an Evans three put the Raiders up a single point before Perry put the Penguins back in front with 2:32 to play, setting the stage for Darling's free throws.
Duggins led four Raiders in double figures, posting 24 points. Evans went for 17 points and added eight rebounds, while Darling and Vest finished with 11 and 10. Vytas Sulskis moved into 18th place on the YSU career scoring charts with a game-high 26 points, while Perry chipped in 16.
The win moved Wright State into a tie for second place in the League, just percentage points behind Valparaiso.
