Detroit and Valparaiso to Meet for Men's Basketball Championship

Horizon League Men's Basketball Scoreboard:
(3) Detroit 63, (2) Cleveland State 58
(1) Valparaiso 65, (5) Butler 46

A packed house at the ARC was promised another chance to watch its hometown team, as top-seeded Valparaiso knocked off Butler after Detroit and Cleveland State staged a thriller in the Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship semifinals. After the dust settled, it will be Valparaiso and Detroit meeting for the League's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on Tuesday night (9pm ET, ESPN).

(3) Detroit 63, (2) Cleveland State 58
Third-seeded Detroit saw a double-digit lead whittled away before making key plays down the stretch to post a 63-58 win over No. 2 Cleveland State and advance to the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship.

Detroit (21-13) will play the winner of tonight’s second semifinal between No. 1 seed Valparaiso and No. 5 Butler. If Valpo wins, the championship game will be played at the Athletics-Recreation Center on Tuesday, March 6, at 9 p.m. ET (ESPN); if the Bulldogs win, the championship will be at Calihan Hall on the Detroit campus.

A night after scoring 22 points in a second round win, Ray McCallum led all scorers with 26 points, including two late free throws to help seal the result for Detroit (21-13).

The Titans led by as many as 12 points with 12:03 remaining before Cleveland State (22-10) took advantage of a tired Detroit squad to reel off a 14-2 run and tie the game. McCallum admitted as much, saying, "“I’m not going to lie, I was pretty dead out there late in the second half. I have a lot of faith in my team though and I trusted them. At the end of the game, I thought it would come down to free-throw shooting, so I could save some energy for the end of the game and let my teammates take over."

Before he had the chance though, D’Aundray Brown, returning to the Vikings lineup after missing nearly eight games due to a groin injury, tied the game with two free throws after an intentional foul with 3:07 to play to seemingly give CSU momentum.

However, Detroit then made the first of several key plays down the stretch.

With Cleveland State holding the ball and a chance to take its first lead since 20-18, Jason Calliste poked the ball away, leading to a Chase Simon layup and giving the Titans a 51-49 edge. On the Vikings’ next possession, McCallum forced a turnover and hit free throws on the subsequent possession to restore a two-possession lead.

Cleveland State would have one last chance, down 61-58 with 9.6 seconds left, but LaMarcus Lowe blocked Charlie Lee’s attempt to tie the game and Simon hit two free throws to seal the result.

Jason Calliste helped Detroit take a 31-25 lead into the half, scoring eight of his 13 points in the opening frame to join McCallum in double figures. Brown came off the bench to lead Cleveland State with 17 points. The senior was joined in double figures by Tim Kamczyc and Jeremy Montgomery, who each had 11.

Cleveland State will wait to hear its postseason destination. while Detroit will play in its first League Championship game since 2005 and its first NCAA Tournament bid since 1999.

(1) Valparaiso 65, (5) Butler 46
Top-seeded Valparaiso blistered Butler on the glass and in the paint, delivering a dominant effort en route to a 65-46 win in the semifinals of the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship at the Athletics-Recreation Center.

Valparaiso (22-10) will host Detroit (21-13) in Tuesday night’s championship at 9 p.m. ET, with the winner sealing the Horizon League’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The Crusaders blistered Butler (20-14) on the glass, outrebounding the Bulldogs, 39-22, resulting in 16 second-chance points. Valparaiso finished with a 34-24 scoring advantage in the paint as it shot 23-for-43 on the night.

Ryan Broekhoff, the Horizon League Player of the Year, justified the vote, posting his 12^th double-double of the year with a game-high 19 points and career-best 16 rebounds. Both Kevin van Wijk and Erik Buggs posted 11 points, with Buggs matching his season total with two three-pointers in the game.

Butler jumped out to a 7-2 lead, but Valparaiso counter-punched by getting into the paint, where Broekhoff and Richie Edwards helped turn the tide for the Crusaders. The duo helped Valpo pull away to a 14-point lead 12 minutes into the game, 25-11, before the Bulldogs drew within seven at the half.

A Chrishawn Hopkins layup to start the second brought Butler within five, but Broekhoff answered with a step-back three and Valpo would lead by as many as 21 points in the second half.

The Crusaders became the first team to beat Butler three times in a season since Wright State pulled the deed in 2004-05.

Ronald Nored added four assists, extending his Butler single-season assists record to 180. Hopkins led the Bulldogs with 18 points, while Erik Fromm added 12 off the bench for Butler, which shot 33.3 percent on the night.

Butler will now wait to learn its postseason fate, while Valparaiso will be playing for its first berth in the NCAA Tournament since joining the Horizon League in 2007-08.