Men's Basketball Scoreboard (March 9)
No. 3 Wright State 56, No. 2 Detroit 54
No. 1 Valparaiso 70, No. 4 Green Bay 69
VALPARAISO, Ind. -- In what can only be described as the most thrilling Horizon League Men's Basketball Semifinals in recent memory, both No. 3 Wright State and No. 1 Valparaiso came away with buzzer-beating victories as Raiders guard Miles Dixon hit a short jump to upset No. 2 Detroit and Crusaders forward Ryan Broekhoff drilled a 3-pointer to down No. 4 Green Bay.
No. 3 Wright State 56, No. 2 Detroit 54
In the first semifinal game of the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Tournament, Miles Dixon swished a short jumper as time expired to deliver a 56-54 win for No. 3 Wright State over the No. 2 Titans.
The upset ended Detroit’s hopes of back-to-back Horizon League tournament titles.
A broken play on Detroit’s last possession of the game led to a long 3-point attempt that came up short. Wright State pulled down the rebound with the score tied 54-54 and 14.8 seconds left on the clock.
Out of the timeout, Dixon ended up low in the post with the ball, seemingly trapped beneath the basket. With the final seconds ticking off the clock, the 6’1” Dixon rose above the crowd and somehow snuck a shot past the backboard and through the hoop.
After a quick review by the officials, the basket was deemed good.
“The play was written up for JT Yoho. I didn’t see him in the post, and I ripped it to the baseline and sot a miracle,” Dixon said. “I saw the clock winding down. I knew how much time was left and I was able to get it off in time.”
Defense allowed Wright State to stay in the game as the Raiders effectively shut down Horizon League Player of the Year Ray McCallum, who finish the game with a season-low five points and committed four turnovers without recording an assist. McCallum was held without a field goal until he tipped in his own miss at the 2:23 mark of the second half.
Wright State also held McCallum’s First Team All-Horizon League counterpart Nick Minnerath to just eight points and two rebounds. The Titans were led in scoring by Jason Calliste’s 17 points; Evan Bruinsma added 15. Detroit falls to 20-12 and will await a postseason assignment.
Dixon led the Raiders with 14 points. Jerran Young, who proved to be a defensive nightmare for Detroit against McCallum, added 12 points and six rebounds, all on the defensive glass.
“He’s a great player,” Young said of McCallum. “Our game plan was to play Wright State defense, and I credit my teammates also. They had my back on help-side defense.”
With the win, the Raiders improve to 21-11, adding to their first 20-win season under Horizon League Coach of the Year Billy Donlon. The Raiders will play in Tuesday night’s championship game on ESPN, its fourth Horizon League Championship appearance and first since 2010.
“There was no doubt that our kids, the entire night, believed they were going to win the game,” Donlon said. “They went out and won it. The players went out and won it.”
Wright State was picked to finish ninth – dead last – in the preseason poll. Donlon said he reminded his team of that ranking prior to Saturday’s game.
“We talked about it this morning for the first time in a long time because I felt like we were satisfied with beating Youngstown,” Donlon said. “I told them, ‘Demand more of yourself.’”
No. 1 Valparaiso 70, No. 4 Green Bay 69
Senior Ryan Broekhoff drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give No. 1 seed Valparaiso a 70-69 win over No. 4 Green Bay and the right to host the Horizon League championship game on Tuesday night.
“At first, I was trying to get to the rim,” Broekhoff said. “I kind of fumbled it a little bit … I just kind of flung it up and hoped and prayed.”
Broekhoff’s game-winner was the second in two semifinal games as No. 3 Wright State had upset No. 2 Detroit 56-54 on a Miles Dixon jumper as time expired in Saturday night’s first game.
Green Bay led for most of the last 10 minutes of the second half in game two, originally tying the game 49-49 on back-to-back baskets by Brennan Cougill at the 9:40 mark. After Valparaiso missed a pair of free throws, Phoenix guard Keifer Sykes was fouled hitting a layup and converted the free throw to give Green Bay a 52-49 lead, which would not be completely relinquished until Broekhoff’s buzzer-beater.
Sykes followed up his traditional three-point play with an NBA-range 3-pointer. The sophomore took over the game late, scoring 13 of his game-high 31 points down the stretch.
Broekhoff helped keep Valpo close, though, including a 3-pointer at the 1:12 mark that tied the game at 64-apiece. The Crusaders had trouble hitting free throws, however, and it seemed the game might slip away after Sykes hit both ends of a one-and-one and Alec Brown hit the front end of his own to put Green Bay up 69-67.
Brown missed his second attempt, however. Kevin Van Wijk pulled down the rebound and handed the ball off the Broekhoff, who dribbled up the court with time winding down.
It appeared Broekhoff lost his handle on the ball near the top of the key, but he was able to gather the ball on the wing and swished the game-winning 3-pointer.
“I never expected it to go in,” Broekhoff said. “It felt terrible coming out of the hands. I’m just so thankful that it went in.”
The shot was taken from directly in front of head coach Bryce Drew, himself well-remembered for a famous 3-pointer that sent Valpo over Ole Miss in the 1998 NCAA Tournament.
“This is one of the best [shots] or maybe the best I have seen. I was right in front of it,” Drew said. “He lost the ball and then had 6 or 10 players right in his face. I thought it was going to get blocked. It went straight through.
“Hundreds of games in the NBA, I sat on the bench, and this is comparable to any buzzer beater I’ve seen.”
“I think it’s still No. 2 all-time [in Valpo history] behind Coach,” Broekhoff joked, before adding, “It’s been an unbelievable year, and we are not done yet. We’ver still got one more game on Tuesday that we need to turn our attention to now.”
Broekhoff finished the game with 25 points. Van Wijk chipped in 17 despite battling leg injuries throughout the game and Matt Kenney scored 14. Valpo improves to 25-7 on the year and will host Tuesday night’s championship game against Wright State at 9 p.m. EST on ESPN.
Valparaiso had opened the game on an offensive tear, leading 13-4 at the first media timeout. Wright State recovered, however, and by the under-12 media timeout had cut the Valpo lead to 15-11.
The Raiders completed the comeback and tied the game 20-20 at the 4:43 mark. Wright State even took a brief lead late in the half, but Van Wijk scored on an acrobatic layup, scooping the ball underhanded into the basket, and completed the three-point play to give the Crusaders a 25-24 lead with 1:34 left on the clock.
Just over a minute later, Broekhoff hit a 3-pointer from the wing and was knocked down, drawing the foul. The Aussie completed the four-point play to give Valpo a 29-24 lead at halftime.
In addition to totaling 31 points on 11-of-20 shooting (and 4-of-6 from long range), Sykes grabbed five rebounds, dished out six assists and came up with a pair of steals for the Phoenix. Brown was Green Bay’s only other double-digit scorer with 15 points, also pulling down six rebounds.
The Phoenix falls to 18-15 on the season.
“It was a hard-fought game. It was a heck of a college basketball game,” Green Bay head coach Brian Wardle said. “We’ver been in back-to-back nights of great college basketball. It’s a tough loss for this group.
“We battled through adversity the whole game and we just kept competing and making plays and put ourselves in a position to win the game, and that’s all we can ask for on the road in this type of atmosphere. We were there. Give Ryan Broekhoff a lot of credit.”
Tags: Detroit Mercy - Men's Basketball · Green Bay - Men's Basketball · Horizon League - Men's Basketball · Valparaiso - Men's Basketball · Wright State - Men's Basketball
