Cleveland State Grabs Control of League Ladder, Middle Tightens on Saturday

Men’s Basketball Scoreboard (Jan. 28)
Valparaiso 55, Milwaukee 52
Cleveland State 67, Youngstown State 47
Green Bay 80, Butler 68

Horizon League Men’s Basketball Standings (through Jan. 28)

1.	Cleveland State	8-2
2.	Valparaiso	8-3
3.	Milwaukee	7-4
4.	Youngstown State	6-4
5.	Detroit	6-5
	Butler	6-5
	Wright State	6-5
8.	Green Bay	5-6
9.	UIC	2-9
10.	Loyola	0-11

The top of the Horizon League standings gained some clarity on Saturday, while the middle of the pack tightened even further, with Cleveland State, Valparaiso and Green Bay grabbing victories.

Valparaiso 55, Milwaukee 52
Down 11 points just 1:44 into the second half, Valparaiso battled back for a gritty 55-52 win over Milwaukee in the Horizon League Network Game of the Week.

Valparaiso (15-8, 8-3 Horizon) gained a split of the season series with Milwaukee (14-9, 7-4 Horizon), with each team winning on the road. The Crusaders’ win was just the second by a road team at U.S. Cellular Arena this year.

For much of the game, Valpo struggled with Milwaukee’s physicality, but a switch to a zone defense stymied the Panthers’ offense, while giving the Crusaders time to work their way back into the game. Holding Milwaukee without a field goal for nearly eight minutes, the Crusaders took their first lead since the first half on a Matt Kenney jumper from the left side to assume a 47-46 advantage with 5:20 to play.

Paris Gulley would come back with a jumper to put the Panthers back in front, but Ryan Broekhoff scored four of Valpo’s next six points to give the Crusaders a 53-49 lead with 1:18 on the clock.

With Milwaukee having hit just one field goal over a 12:36 stretch, Kaylon Williams then buried a triple to slice the gap to a single point, 53-52 with 58.0 showing on the clock, making the contest the 22nd of the year in the Horizon League to be within a possession in the final minute of regulation. After two Kevin Van Wijk free throws put the Crusaders up three, Gulley and Williams each missed chances to tie the game, with the Panthers retaining possession after a scramble for the rebound.

With 1.1 ticks left, Williams’ three hit the left side of the backboard and caromed off the rim, giving the Crusaders a split of its road trip through Wisconsin.

Broekhoff led a balanced Valparaiso attack with 11 points, while Van Wijk slogged through an off-shooting night in finishing with 10 points. Five Crusaders posted seven or more points. Tony Meier led all players with 13 points for Milwaukee, while James Haarsma added 10.

Cleveland State 67, Youngstown State 47
In what was billed as the biggest game at the Beeghly Center since Youngstown State joined the Horizon League, Cleveland State took the air out of the arena with a dominant first half in cruising to a 67-47 win.

Cleveland State (18-4, 8-2 Horizon) solidified first place in the Horizon League, while Youngstown State (11-9, 6-4 Horizon) failed in its attempt to sweep its northeast Ohio rivals.

After a Kendrick Perry free throw gave YSU a 1-0 lead, CSU rattled off five straight on a three-pointer by Jeremy Montgomery and a D’Aundray Brown basket to take a 5-1 lead. The Penguins responded with an 8-2 run to regain a 9-7 lead less than five minutes into the game, but it was all CSU from there.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Trey Harmon put CSU up 13-9 and started a 34-10 run by the Vikings to close the final 15 minutes of the half to send the teams into the locker room with Cleveland State ahead, 41-19.

The Vikings climbed out to the large first half lead thanks to a prolific offense and even better defense.

Cleveland State shot 17-of-29 from the field in the first half and held the Penguins to just 7-of-25, including 2-of-14 from three-point range. The Vikings shot 8-of-15 from beyond the three-point arc in the game, including a 6-for-8 effort in the first half.

A brief 8-3 run to open the second half helped Youngstown State slice the lead to 17 points (44-27), but the Vikings had an answer, using an Aaron Pogue tip-in and back-to-back three-pointers from Montgomery and Brown to regain a 25 point advantage, 52-27, advantage with 15:29 left to play.

Youngstown State could not climb within 17 points the rest of the way. The Penguins shot just 4-for-24 from three-point range.

Anton Grady, who has come on of late, notched his first career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds in just 21 minutes of work. Harmon was only other Viking in double figures with 10 points.

Blake Allen led the Penguins with 11 points, while Damian Eargle and Perry each recorded 10.

Green Bay 80, Butler 68
Shooting nearly 60 percent in the second half, Green Bay made enough plays down the stretch to knock off Butler, 80-68, in front of a season-best crowd at the Resch Center.

Green Bay (9-12, 5-6 Horizon) continued to be dominant at home, improving to 9-1 in Green Bay this season. After winning three straight games, Butler (12-11, 6-5 Horizon) dropped its second straight game, going 0-2 in its Wisconsin road trip for the first time since 2008-09, when the trip was split.

Five straight points from Eric Fromm helped Butler tie the game at 53 with 6:52 to play, but Green Bay countered with the inside-outside combination of Brennan Cougill, Alec Brown and Kam Cerroni. Cougill’s versatile game gave Butler fits all night to the tune of 21 points, and the junior put the Phoenix in front, 56-53, with a three with 5:51 to play.

Taking the ball inside, Brown was fouled and knocked down two free throws before a Cougill board led to a Cerroni three, putting Green Bay ahead, 61-53, with 4:30 remaining.

Two Ronald Nored free throws brought the Bulldogs within six, 63-57, but Cerroni found Cougill down low for a slam, and Butler never came closer than six the rest of the way.

Cougill finished with a career-high 21 points, matching Brown with eight rebounds. Brown missed out on setting a new Green Bay career record for blocks, but scored 19 points. Keifer Sykes, who had to leave the game on two separate occasions due to a cut on the back of his head, controlled the Phoenix attack with 14 points, seven assists (three different jerseys and a du-rag to control the bleeding).

Roosevelt Jones recorded a career-best 16 points for Butler, but was largely bottled up in the second half, adding a team-best eight rebounds. Nored added 13 points, while Fromm and Chrishawn Hopkins each came off the bench to add 10 points.