Horizon League Men's Basketball Scoreboard (Jan. 8)
Wright State 73, Valparaiso 55
Detroit 76, Butler 65
Both Detroit and Wright State salvaged splits of the weekend in Horizon League play, defending their respective home courts against Butler and Valparaiso.
Detroit 76, Butler 65
Detroit entered Sunday afternoon's game shooting just 26.8 percent from three-point range. The Titans improved upon that, going 9-of-16 from beyond the arc in a dominant 76-65 victory over visiting Butler.
Detroit (8-10, 2-4 Horizon) mustered one of its best defensive efforts of the year in the first half, holding Butler (9-8, 3-2 Horizon) to just 35 percent shooting and early turnovers that kep the Bulldogs offense out of sync. Meanwhile the Titans were blistering the net from three-point range, going 4-of-7 in the first 20 minutes, using three in the first 8:23 of the game to open a 25-8 lead and bring the crowd to its feet.
Butler came no closer than eight points the rest of the half, and the Titans opened the second half the same way they did to start the game, with a Ray McCallum three pushing a 38-26 lead to 15 and set the tone for the half.
The Titans' pressure on the perimeter kept Butler from generating any extended run to climb back in the game; Chrishawn Hopkins scored five straight points to bring the Bulldogs within 53-42 with 11:13 remainging, but Jason Calliste knocked down his third three of the game to push the lead back to 14 and followed with a layup to force Butler into a timeout.
Back-to-back threes from Donavan Foster and Chase Simon extended the advantage to 64-44 and the Titans would lead by as many as 23 points before Butler rallied late.
Dressing just nine players, Detroit had five reach double figures, with Calliste leading the way with 16. Simon added 15 and McCallum 12, with Foster and Doug Anderson registering 11 and 10. Three of Anderson's four field goals were rim-rattling dunks, as the junior electrified the Calihan Hall audience.
Ronald Nored led Butler with 13 points, while Khyle Marshall matched Anderson's dunking capabilities, finishing with 11 points.
Wright State 73, Valparaiso 55
Wright State blitzed visiting Valparaiso down the stretch, outscoring the Crusaders by 20 points in the second half en route to a 73-55 victory at the Nutter Center.
Wright State (9-9, 4-2 Horizon) shot 49.1 percent in the game, despite going just 4-of-15 from three-point range. The Raiders never trailed after a Julius Mays layup put them up, 37-35, early in the second half. WSU steadily pulled away as the half wore on, forcing Valparaiso (10-7, 3-2 Horizon) into a timeout after another Mays layup extended the edge to 55-44 with 5:41 to play.
Matt Kenney would drain a three to give the Crusaders hope of their second comeback of the weekend, but a Cole Darling layup and bucket by Mays off a Darling feed helped seal the outcome.
Mays, on the heels of a 24-point effort on Friday night, finished with 21 points; since returning from injury, the junior is averaging just over 21 points per game. Wright State is 5-1 in that stretch. Armond Battle shined for the Raiders down low, leading all scorers with 23 points in battling Valpo's Kevin Van Wijk thorughout. Van Wijk, battling foul trouble, finished with 13 points.
Ryan Broekhoff collected his eighth double-double of the season with 18 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Reggie Arceneaux added 11 points for Wright State.
