Horizon League Men's Basketball Results (Jan. 6, 2012):
Butler 63, Wright State 62
Valparaiso 73, Detroit 71
The Horizon League is fast developing a reputation for thrilling finishes. Friday was no exception, with both the Butler-Wright State and Valparaiso-Detroit games coming down to the wire, with the Bulldogs and Crusaders emerging in the final seconds. The two results pushed the number of conference contests to come down to the last minute of regulation to 14 in just 22 games.
Butler 63, Wright State 62
In a game that never had a margin of more than four points, Butler made enough plays down the stretch to knock off Wright State, 63-62, at the Nutter Center before a national television audience on ESPNU.
Butler (9-7, 3-1 Horizon) collected its first road win in conference play, but found itself down, 57-54, to a resilient Wright State (8-9, 3-2 Horizon) squad with 1:55 to play after a Julius Mays three-pointer brought 6,500 Raiders fans to their feet. At the time, the Bulldogs were 1-of-14 from three-point range and 5-of-13 from the free-throw line.
However, the Bulldogs flipped the script down the stretch, as Andrew Smith drifted to the left wing after a high screen and roll, draining the high-arching three after a pass from Ronald Nored to knot the game at 57. Wright State posted up Mays, who finished with a game-high 24 points, where he converted two free throws for the game's 19th lead change.
The 20th change would be the final one, as once again Smith found himself on the left wing after a high screen and roll, and once again he knocked down the three, silencing the crowd. The Raiders would turn to Mays once more, but his jumper came off the rim to Khyle Marshall, and the sophomore got the ball to Nored, who was fouled with 30 seconds to play.
Nored knocked down both freebies, giving Butler a 62-59 advantage, but the drama continued as Chase Stigall closed out underneath John Balgiwaire on his game-tying three-point attempt, sending the Raider to the line, where he converted all three free throws to knot the contest at 62 with 21 ticks on the clock.
Given the last possession of the game, Butler worked the clock, with Nored driving down the right side, where he was fouled. This time, the senior knocked down the first free throw before intentionally missing the second. However, Nored came across the free-throw line early, giving Wright State a chance at the game-winner with 2.7 seconds remaining.
Setting a screen for Mays in the middle of the court, Wright State got Mays the ball heading towards the basket. The junior's 25-footer at the horn looked good out of his hand, but rimmed out, giving the Bulldogs the road win.
Smith and Marshall helped Butler dominate the paint, 38-20, with Smith scoring a team-best 19 and Marshall adding 14 off the bench. Nored finished with 11 for the Bulldogs.
Johann Mpondo had 12 for the Raiders, with Reggie Arceneaux chipping in 11.
Valparaiso 73, Detroit 71
In a back-and-forth game, Valparaiso squandered a late lead, only to win on Erik Buggs' cross-court dash at the buzzer, collecting a key 73-71 win over Detroit at Calihan Hall.
Valparaiso (10-6, 3-1 Horizon) led 67-63 with 2:33 to play after a Kevin Van Wijk layup, but Detroit (7-10, 1-4 Horizon) would rally with five straight points on a Chase Simon three-pointer and Eli Holman jumper to assume a 68-67 advantage with 1:28 on the clock.
Ryan Broekhoff would come back with a drive, stop, pump fake and jumper to restore the Crusaders' lead at 69-68, but Holman would convert a three-point play to give the Titans a 71-69 lead with under a minute to go.
With the Titans extended its defense to cut off passing lanes, Jay Harris took advantage, driving to the basket to knot the game at 71. The layup gave Detroit the ball and the final possession of regulation, if it chose. However, as Simon drove to the lane, Buggs stepped in to draw the charge with 4.6 seconds left and give Valparaiso one more chance to win before an extra session.
Catching the inbounds pass, Buggs did his best Tyus Edney impersonation, darting down the left side to the rim, where his layup went off the backboard, hit the front of the rim as the horn sounded and dropped through the net, lifting the Crusaders to the victory.
It was the shooting of junior Will Bogan which kept the Crusaders in the ballgame in the first half. Bogan nailed three early 3-pointers to help stake Valpo to a 12-4 lead under five minutes into the game. But the Crusaders went cold at that point, going almost seven minutes until yet another Bogan 3-pointer, a stretch in which Detroit went on a 16-1 run to claim the lead. Ray McCallum fueled the surge, finishing the first half with 15 of his 22 points.
The Titans led by as many as 12 at 34-22 with 2:30 to go in the first half before Bogan’s fifth 3-pointer sparked a half-ending run. The junior followed his triple with a steal as Detroit brought the ball up the court, finding Broekhoff for a basket in the paint as he was being fouled. As the half reached the final 90 seconds, Broekhoff and junior Richie Edwards each converted inside baskets to cut Detroit’s advantage to just 35-32 at the half, capping a quick 10-1 spurt and keeping Valpo within striking distance as the second half got underway.
Bogan would lead the Crusaders with 23 points, while Van Wijk and Broekhoff had 17 and 14 points, respectively. Holman came off the bench to post 17 points, with Jason Calliste adding 14 for Detroit.
