#HLMBB Scoreboard (Feb. 9)
Detroit 83, Youngstown State 81 (ot)
Valparaiso 63, Oakland 60
Four weeks from the Horizon League Tournament, Detroit and Valparaiso emerged with victories that evoked memories of last year's conference tournament. The Titans knocked off Youngstown State in overtime while the Crusaders used a 3-pointer with seven seconds left to stun Oakland.
Detroit 83, Youngstown State 81 (ot)
Detroit won its second-straight game as the Titans held off several charges from Youngstown State in a pivotal 83-81 victory in overtime over the Penguins on Dick Vitale Court in historic Calihan Hall.
With the score tied 80-80 and time running down on the shot clock Howard was able to back down DJ Cole and sink a baby soft jumper from six feet away to give the Titans the lead with 18 seconds remaining, a lead they would not relinquish.
Kendrick Perry was then fouled on the Penguins next possession, but missed the front end of two free throws to make the score 82-81 with eight seconds left. Junior forward Patrick Onwenu then made the first of two for Detroit, before missing the second to keep it a two point game 83-81 with seven ticks left on the clock. Perry forced a three-pointer up with three seconds left and Kamren Belin missed the put back as time expired.
Howard finished the day with 24 points, five rebounds and two assists, while Bruinsma added 19 points, eight boards and four helpers. Classmate Ugochukwu Njoku grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds, while Williams scored 14 points and Onwenu added nine.
Onwenu had the defensive play of the game in overtime when he forced Perry to turn the ball over at midcourt in the final minute of a tied game. The Titans took the lead on their next possession.
Detroit (12-14, 5-6 Horizon) held a three-point lead 71-68 with 21 second left in regulation before Shawn Amiker made a three-pointer from the right corner to tie the game with 10 second left. The Titans inbounded the ball quick as freshman Jarod Williams took it coast-to-coast only to see his jumper rim in and out in the closing seconds. Senior co-captain Evan Bruinsma had a chance to win it at the buzzer with a tip-in, but that bounced out as well.
Youngstown State (13-12, 4-6 Horizon) took an early 74-71 lead to start overtime following a three-pointer from Cole. Bu the Titans were able to battle back with a 3-1 run to make it a one point game 75-74 after a jumper from Howard. An Amiker jumper then gave the Penguins a three point lead again with 2:22 left, before the Titans bounced back with a 6-1 run capped off by a pair of free throws from Bruinsma to take an 80-78 lead with 1:03 left. YSU tied the game with 52 ticks left, before Howard drained the game winner.
The Titans opened the game on fire from deep hitting three of their first four from downtown, including two from Bruinsma, to give Detroit and early 9-2 lead. The Penguins then answered back with an 11-2 run to take a 13-11 lead with 13:21 left. Detroit then answered back to tie the game 16-16 with 10:25 left, before closing the half with a 24-14 run, including three-pointer from Howard as time expired. Howard and Bruinsma led Detroit with 10 points apiece in the opening stanza, while Amiker led all scores with 14 for YSU.
Youngstown State opened the second half with four quick points and never let up from there as it was able to trim Detroit's lead to two 51-49 with 11:54 left in regulation. The Titans bounced back to build their lead back up to seven, 67-60, with 3:19 remaining, before the Penguins closed regulation with an 11-4 run, including the three-pointer from Amiker in the closing seconds to force overtime.
Detroit shot 43 percent (28-of-64) overall, including 75 percent (3-of-4) in overtime, while YSU finished shooting 43 percent (25-of-58) overall and 40 percent (2-of-5) in the extra session. Both teams finished 8-of-23 from downtown, but the Penguins shot better from the charity stripe making 23-of-30, while Detroit finished 19-of-28. The Titans won the battle on the boards 42-35 and outscored YSU 15-0 from the bench.
Amiker led YSU with a career-high 25 points, while Perry added 22 points and Bobby Hain grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.
Valparaiso 63, Oakland 60
In another riveting chapter in the classic Valparaiso-Oakland men’s basketball rivalry, this time it was the Crusaders who came out on top, as freshman Clay Yeo canned a 3-pointer from the right-hand corner with 7.4 seconds to play to give Valpo a 63-60 victory in a key Horizon League battle at the ARC.
For the second time in eight days, the Crusaders’ program record for individual blocks in a single game was matched, this time as Moussa Gueye rejected seven shots to equal the effort of Vashil Fernandez.
Yeo, who had played just three minutes over Valparaiso’s (15-11, 7-4 Horizon) last three games, stepped up to the task on Sunday, playing 25 minutes off the bench for the Crusaders. Defensively, the freshman was tasked with slowing down the NCAA career 3-point record holder in Travis Bader. Bader hit just one of his four 3-pointers with Yeo in the game. Offensively, Yeo canned three 3-pointers leading up to his game-winner.
The leadup to Yeo’s game-winner rivaled the way the Crusaders’ games against the Grizzlies have gone through the years, as both squads traded the lead in the final minutes. Bader knocked down a 3-pointer with four minutes to play to give Oakland its first lead since early in the first half, but fifth-year senior Bobby Capobianco came back and grabbed an offensive rebound while being fouled, hitting both free throws to tie the game at 55 with 3:41 to go.
Oakland responded with a layup from Kahlil Felder, but again the Crusaders took advantage of a second opportunity, as Fernandez corralled the rebound and was fouled. Fernandez stepped up to the line and hit both, making it 57-all with 3:03 to go.
Valpo's defense held and Capobianco made a play on the offensive end, using a jump-stopto go up for a layup while being fouled. The senior finished off the 3-point play with the free throw as the Crusaders took a 60-57 lead with 2:25 to go.
Both squads had empty possessions on each of their next two trips, but Bader hit a 3-pointer for the Grizzlies off a handoff over the outstretched arms of Fernandez, tying the game at 60-60 with 40.2 seconds to play. The Crusaders ran down the shot clock on the offensive end before Lavonte Dority looked to drive to the basket.
On the drive, Yeo’s man helped off just enough to give Dority a lane to deliver the pass to the freshman, and Yeo canned the triple from the right-hand corner with 7.4 seconds to go for the final margin. Oakland ran the ball up for one last shot, but Dante Williams’ 3-point attempt before the horn was off the mark.
Valpo led for the vast majority of the first half, but put together a key run late in the stanza to gain separation. Already up 20-15, the Crusaders scored 13 of the next 17 points over a stretch of four and a half minutes to push the lead into double figures. Gueye had a trio of baskets during the run as part of a nine-point first half, while Dority also scored a pair of baskets at the rim during the spurt. The Crusaders eventually carried a 33-23 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The lead remained in double figures for Valpo for the first five-plus minutes of the second half, but Oakland scored eight straight points to cut the lead to Crusader edge to 40-36 with 13 minutes to play. Valpo rallied with seven straight on a Yeo triple, a jumper on the break by freshman Alec Peters and a pair of Dority free throws to push the lead back to 47-36 at the 11:49 mark. The Grizzlies had another rally in them, however, as they out-scored Valpo 19-6 over the next eight minutes, capped by Bader’s 3-pointer which gave them the lead.
Yeo finished with 12 points, one of four Crusaders in double figures. Peters had a team-best 13 points, while Dority added 11 points and five assists and Capobianco finished with ten points and nine rebounds. Gueye’s record-tying seven blocks came in just 14 minutes of action, while Yeo also blocked a pair of shots as well.
Oakland (9-17, 4-7 Horizon) received 14 points each from Bader and Corey Petros, while Felder chipped in 12 points, five rebounds and five assists in the losing effort.
