Cleveland State, Valparaiso Maintain Undefeated League Marks

INDIANAPOLIS -- Valparaiso and Cleveland State each recorded road victories on Saturday, moving to the top of the Horizon League ladder with 2-0 records.  In its opening League game, Detroit recorded its first win on the 18-game slate, while Green Bay evened its conference mark.



Cleveland State (10-0, 2-0 Horizon) dominated from the opening tip, cruising to an 82-59 win over Milwaukee (4-5, 1-1 Horizon).  The undefeated road trip through the state of Wisconsin was the first for the Vikings in over 10 years; Cleveland State entered the weekend 1-19 in its last 20 games in America's Dairyland.

The Vikings scored the game's first six points and never looked back, leading by as many as 32 points and shooting a blistering 63.8 percent on the night.  Meanwhile, the stifling Cleveland State defense harassed the Panthers into a 16-for-54 evening from the floor.

Jeremy Montgomery had a team-high 20 points for the Vikings, leading the way with a 5-for-7 effort from three-point range.  The junior hit over a third of Cleveland State's 14 three-pointers in the contest, helping the Vikings go 14-for-22 from long range, tying the school record for three pointers in a game.

Along with Montgomery, three other Vikings finished with 10 or more points, led by Norris Cole's 14.  Trey Harmon added 13 and Charlie Woods had 10.  The victory extended Cleveland State's school-record start to the season.

Likewise, Detroit (5-4, 1-0 Horizon) led from wire-to-wire, snapping a 10-game losing streak to travel partner Wright State (3-5, 0-1 Horizon) with a 78-69 victory at Calihan Hall.

Despite foul trouble down the stretch, Detroit was able to overcome a late Wright State run, beginning a finishing burst on a Chase Simon fast-break dunk.  Turning a three-point edge into a seven-point cushion, the Titans capped the game on Ray McCallum feed to Eli Holman for an emphatic dunk that sealed the result.

Holman finished the contest with his sixth double-double of the season, recording 17 points and 12 boards.  Jason Calliste led the Titans with 20 points, while McCallum and Simon added 16 and 12, respectively.

Detroit was able to overcome a 23-point effort from the Raiders' Vaughn Duggins and N'Gai Evans' 14 points.

Playing its fifth straight contest away from the Athletics Recreation Center, Valparaiso (6-2, 2-0 Horizon) clamped down on Loyola (7-2, 0-2 Horizon), holding the Ramblers scoreless over a seven-minute stretch to key a 12-0 run, resulting in a 66-56 victory at the Gentile Center.

With Loyola threatening to take the lead at 49-48 with 8:37 to play, Valpo began its run, slowly building the run after Cory Johnson and Howard Little each split free throws.  On the Crusaders' next possession, Little word a give-and-go with Matt Kenney to feed the sophomore a layup.  Ryan Broekhoff hit a back-breaking 14-foot jumper with the shot clock ticking down to push the lead to 56-48 with four minutes to play.

Little paced Valparaiso with16 points, while Ben Averkamp led Loyola with 11.  The Crusaders were without the services of Walt Gibler, who was feeling the effects of an ankle injury that limited him on Wednesday night as well.

Green Bay (4-4, 1-1 Horizon) trailed by eight points at the midway point of the second half, but Seth Evans led the comeback that gave the Phoenix a 74-59 decision over Youngstown State (4-3, 0-2 Horizon) at the Resch Center.

Down 54-46, Steve Baker and Rahmon Fletcher kick-started the 17-1 Phoenix run, scoring the first five points to draw Green Bay within a possession.  Evans added the game-tying three-pointer to make it an 8-0 run; after a Penguin free throw, Baker gave the Phoenix the lead for good, converting a three-point play to put Green Bay in front for good, 57-55.

Just a few minutes later, Baker provided the dagger, knocking down another three-pointer to put the Phoenix up by eight.

While Fletcher led the Phoenix with 19 points, Baker hit all five of his field-goal attempts, finishing with 13 points.

Damian Eargle posted 13 points and four blocks for Youngstown State, while Vytas Sulskis added 11.  The Horizon League's leading three-point shooting team, averaging 9 threes per game, the Penguins went just 2-for-12 from long range on Saturday afternoon.

In a rematch from the 2010 NCAA Championship, Butler gave #1/1 Duke all it could handle, but an 11-0 Blue Devil run in the second half proved to be the difference in an 82-70 loss for the Bulldogs.

Down 54-44 following the second-half run by Duke, Butler (4-3) responded, closing the gap to three points on a Shawn Vanzant three from the corner.  With 14 points, Vanzant led the Bulldogs, who played the final 15 minutes of the game with leading scorer Shelvin Mack.  Foul trouble plagued the Bulldogs in the second half as well, as both Matt Howard and Ronald Nored spent time on the bench due to fouls.

Howard finished with 13 points, while Mack contributed 11 points and a team-best six boards.

Up 12 points at the half, UIC (4-5, 0-1 Horizon) squandered its edge in the second half, committing 10 turnovers in the final 20 minutes to fall to Akron, 54-52, at the UIC Pavilion.

For 19 minutes of the second half, the Flames held the lead, finally relenting with 1:03 to go on an Akron three-pointer that tied the game.  13 seconds later, UIC's ninth turnover of the half led to the Zips' go-ahead basket.  A final turnover sealed the fate of the Flames, who never got the ball back.

Robo Kreps led UIC with 14 points, while Darrin Williams chipped in with 12.