Four Teams Claim Wins on Saturday

Men’s Basketball Scoreboard (Nov. 24)
Loyola 53, Northern Illinois 46
UIC 56, Southeast Missouri 45
Green Bay 74, North Dakota State 59
Valparaiso 77, Bethune-Cookman 64
Miami 77, Detroit 62
Jacksonville 71, Milwaukee 66
Utah 66, Wright State 54

Horizon League teams returned to action after the Thanksgiving holiday, with Loyola, UIC, Valpo and Green Bay grabbing victories.

Loyola 53, Northern Illinois 46
Loyola used a stingy defense that held host Northern Illinois to 30 percentfield goal shooting to earn a 53-46 victory over the Huskies at the Convocation Center.

While Ben Averkamp tallied 15 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the year, the Ramblers held the Huskies to 17-for-57 shooting.

The first half was a classic defensive struggle as both teams shot under 27 percent from the field and committed a combined 15 turnovers. Ten points from Averkamp and six by Christian Thomas accounted for all 16 of the Ramblers' first-half points, but Loyola was held scoreless for the final 7:55 of the period after Thomas sank a pair of foul shots.

Despite that scoring drought, Loyola's six-point lead was only whittled down to 16-15 as the teams headed to the locker room to regroup at the half.

The scoring and pace of play picked up early in the second half and after Northern Illinois' Akeem Springs hit a three-pointer to open the period, Cully Payne hit a pair of threes in the opening three minutes, the second one giving Loyola the lead, at 25-23.

After the Huskies connected on a pair of free throws to tie the score, Thomas answered with a pair of foul shots of his own to kick off an 18-4 run as the Ramblers opened up a 43-29 lead with 7:19 to play.

Northern Illinois made things interesting late in the game, closing within eight points, but Crisman's running jumper with 2:17 left put the Ramblers back up by double digits, 48-38. Loyola hit five of six shots from the charity stripe in the final 38 seconds to hold off NIU's late surge.

Averkamp added two assists, three steals and a block, while Payne contributed 10 points and Thomas and Jeff White added eight points apiece. Joe Crisman collected a career-best 10 rebounds and added six points.

UIC 56, Southeast Missouri 45
UIC  dug down on defense for 40 minutes, grinding out its third-straight win, 56-45, over Southeast Missouri at the UIC Pavilion.

Center Josh Crittle asserted himself inside, posting his first-career double-double with a game-high 17 points and 12 rebounds, leading a trio of Flames in double figures.

For the second-straight game, UIC's seniors led the offensive attack. Crittle's 17 points and 12 boards both marked career-highs for his Division I career. Gary Talton recorded his fifth double-digit scoring output of the season, chipping in 14 points to go along with a career-high nine rebounds, while Daniel Barnes scored 10 points. The Flames recorded a resounding 50-40 advantage on the boards and committed just five turnovers on offense. UIC also out-scored SEMO 18-0 off turnovers.

UIC has now won three-straight games for the first time since the 2008-09 campaign. The Flames' 4-1 start to the season marks its best start to a campaign since 2003-04, when UIC jumped out of the gate with a 6-1 mark. Southeast Missouri, which was picked second in its division of the Ohio Valley Conference, dropped to 3-4 overall.

The Redhawks were the aggressors in the early stages, jumping out to a 16-9 lead just over seven minutes into the game. UIC claimed its first lead at the 9:57 mark, after a three-pointer by Joey Miller made the score 18-16. A three-pointer by Talton with 5:13 remaining in the first half gave the Flames their biggest lead of the frame, 26-19.

SEMO went on an ensuing 6-0 spurt to trim the Flames' lead to 26-25 with 2:17 left in the first half. Crittle tallied his fifth field goal of the frame with 1:20 showing on the clock, giving UIC a 28-25 lead heading into the locker room at halftime.

UIC extended its lead to 31-25 seven possessions into the second half, but the Redhawks answered with a 7-0 run, taking a 32-31 lead with 12:33 remaining. Hayden Humes converted his lone field goal with 6:59 remaining, giving the Flames a 41-39 lead that they would not relinquish. SEMO's Marland Smith hit two free throws with 1:53 left, trimming UIC's lead to 50-45, but the Redhawks could draw no closer.

Green Bay 74, North Dakota State 59
Returning home after an eight-day road trip, Green Bay jumped out to a 13-2 lead and put five players in double figures in a wire-to-wire 74-59 win over visiting North Dakota State at the Resch Center.

Green Bay (3-3) snapped a three-game losing streak while handing the Bison its first loss in five games.

Keifer Sykes had all 21 of his points by the 8:05 mark of the second half to lead the quintet of Phoenix double-figure scorers. Sultan Muhammad made his first start in a Green Bay uniform and knocked down four three-pointers as part of a 13-point effort Brennan Cougill and Kam Cerroni each scored 12 while AlecBrown added 10 points.

After NDSU cut the early lead to three, Green Bay led by nine, 32-23, at the half when Cerroni made a three-pointer at the buzzer. The Bison was held to 9-of-27 shooting in the opening 20 minutes, including a 0-for-6 effort from long range.

Two triples from Cerroni and another from Muhammad were part of an 11-2 run that turned a 10-point edge early in the second half to a 53-33 lead with 13:57 to play. Muhammad went 4-of-6 from long range and Cerroni knocked down 3-of-5 threes as Green Bay made a season-high nine three-pointers and made 50 percent from long range for the first time since Jan. 28, 2012.

The Bison threatened to come back, closing to 60-48 with 5:23 to play, but Muhammad and Cerroni again responded. Muhammad knocked down a triple and Cerroni capped an 8-0 run to push the lead back to 20 (68-48) with 3:30 remaining.

Green Bay's hot shooting was due in large part to an unselfish offensive attack run by Sykes. The Phoenix handed out 20 assists on 24 made field goals, with Cougill tallying five and Sykes and Brown adding four each. It was a career high assist total for Brown, who added five rebounds.

The Phoenix defense held NDSU to 40 percent shooting from the field (22-55), including just 3-of-16 from long range for a team that came in shooting almost 41 percent from long range. Mike Felt led NDSU in scoring coming in but was held scoreless on just 0-of-3 shooting. Second-leading scorer Taylor Braun was held to just four on 2-of-12 shooting from the field.

Jordan Fouse started on Braun and also contributed eight rebounds, three assists, four blocks and two steals in 27 minutes.

Valparasio 77, Bethune-Cookman 64
Ryan Broekhoff scored 26 of his career-high 30 points in the first half as the Crusaders ran out to a 20-3 lead en route to a 77-64 victory at the ARC over Bethune-Cookman.

With the win, Valparaiso (4-2) claimed the trophy for winning the Valparaiso Division of the Joe Cipriano Nebraska Classic.

It was a pair of Crusaders not named Broekhoff who got Valpo going in the early going, as senior Kevin Van Wijk scored the Crusaders' first four points and then hit fifth-year senior Will Bogan for a 3-pointer to give Valpo a 7-3 lead at the first media break.  For Bethune-Cookman, Adrien Coleman converted a 3-point play following a steal 1:22 into the ballgame, the Wildcats' only points in the first seven-plus minutes.

Following the stoppage, Broekhoff took over the game.  The senior nailed a 3-pointer for his first basket with 15:32 to play, and 30 seconds later came up with a steal and fast-break basket.  Following a Bethune-Cookman miss, Broekhoff lined up another trifecta and drilled it while being fouled, finishing off the four-point play.  Then Broekhoff hit the glass for a defensive rebound and was fouled, and following a technical foul, hit all four free throws to cap a stretch of 13 straight points over a span of just 1:29 as Valpo led 20-3.

After a stint on the bench, Broekhoff came back in and knocked down all four of his free throw attempts during his next stretch to push his point total to 17 points.  Meanwhile, senior Ben Boggs (Roanoke, Va./Hidden Valley [Virginia Tech]) hit a 3-pointer just 10:34 into the game to give the Crusaders a 20-point lead for the first time, and two minutes later, Boggs knocked down a jumper from the top of the key on the fast break to make it 32-11 Valpo.

Following another rest period, Broekhoff re-entered with under five minutes to play in the half after Bethune-Cookman had cut the lead to 32-18.  The senior promptly drove inside for a layup, and two possessions later connected on an NBA-range 3-pointer from the left wing.  On the next trip, senior Matt Kenney found Broekhoff with an alley-oop which the latter laid in off the glass, and the Australian capped off his 26-point half with a tough shot in the paint with 1:16 to play in the half.  Broekhoff's 26 points at the break matched his previous career high for an entire game, set last year at home in a win over Detroit.

The Crusaders' lead was cut to 44-28 at the half, as Bethune-Cookman scored the last two baskets of the opening stanza, but Van Wijk quickly made it 50-28 with a pair of 3-point plays within the first minute of the second half.  Valpo then had an answer for every rally the Wildcats threw at them in the second half.  B-CU cut the lead to 52-40 with 15:27 to play, but redshirt junior Bobby Capobianco (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland [Indiana]) tipped in a miss and Broekhoff added a pair of free throws to push the advantage back to 16.

An 8-0 run for the Wildcats cut the lead to single digits at 58-49 with 11:03 to go, but Valpo needed just 25 seconds to make it a double-digit game again, the start of a five-point spurt which included a fast-break layup from fifth-year seniorErik Buggs (Memphis, Tenn./Mitchell).  Then, the Crusaders held off one last rally, turning a 65-55 lead into a 75-58 advantage over a span of three minutes.  Boggs and Bogan both hit 3-pointers during the run, which Broekhoff capped with his 29^th and 30^th points of the night on a putback basket.

Van Wijk and Bogan joined Broekhoff in double figures, the former scoring 19, including 14 in the second half, and the latter 11.  Van Wijk also paced Valpo on the boards with eight rebounds to go with seven by Broekhoff and six by Kenney, as the Crusaders held a 33-19 advantage on the glass.  The Crusaders shot 54.8% (23-of-42) for the game, including 53.3% (8-of-15) from behind the 3-point line.

Coleman led Bethune-Cookman (2-4) with 19 points and four assists, while Alex Smith scored 17 on 8-of-11 shooting and Kevin Dukes hit four 3-pointers en route to 16 points.

Miami 77, Detroit 62
Detroit started its three-game road swing with a 77-62 to Miami at the BankUnited Center.

Three Titans scored in double-figures for Detroit (2-2), including Nick Minnerath’s season-high 22 points.

Ray McCallum and Jason Calliste both netted 15 points apiece. McCallum also had five rebounds, three assists and two steals for the Titans, while Doug Anderson pulled down a team-high seven boards including five offensive.

Controlling the opening tip, Miami took an early 6-3 lead before the Titans followed with a 6-2 run to take a 9-8 lead during the first media timeout. Detroit then continued its run as it built a 15-9 lead after back-to-back baskets from McCallum leading into the 12-minute mark. The Hurricanes responded with five-straight points to make the score, 15-14, with 10:22 left, but Minnerath answered back on the Titans next possession with a deep three-pointer to give Detroit an, 18-14, lead.

Miami then scored seven-straight points to take the lead, 21-19, but Minnerath again responded for the Titans, this time with back-to-back three-pointers to give Detroit the lead, 25-21, with 6:22 left. But the Hurricanes were able to end the half with a 14-6 run to take a 35-31 lead into the locker room. Minnerath led all scorers in the first half with 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting, including 4-for-7 from downtown, while McCallum had eight points and two steals.

Miami scored the first six points of the second half to build a lead of 41-31 before McCallum drained a three-pointer to make the score, 41-34. The Hurricanes responded with three points to rebuild a 10-point lead, but Minnerath answered back with his fifth three-pointer of the game to make the score, 44-37, with 13:46 left.

But Miami was able then put together a 14-5 run over the next five minutes to build its largest lead of the game, 58-42. Detroit wouldn't go down easy as the Titans put together an 18-10 run, including a couple of three-pointers form Calliste, to make the score, 68-60, with 2:30 left, but that was close as the score would get as the Hurricanes made some key baskets down the stretch, including 13-of-14 free throw attempts in the second half to claim the win.

Miami outrebounded the Titans, 41-27, and recorded five blocked shots, but the Titans forced 14 turnovers by the Hurricanes, including seven steals. Miami shot 51.9 percent from the field, while holding Detroit to just 35.6 percent. The Hurricanes also made 17-of-19 free throw attempts, while Detroit made 9-of-14 attempts from the charity stripe. The Titans did make 11 three-pointers, while holding Miami to just five from downtown.

Jacksonville 71, Milwaukee 66
Dylan Fritsch scored 14 points and Jacksonville forced 20 turnovers as the Dolphins held on for a 71-66 win over Milwaukee at the Puerto Vallerta Convention Center.

Milwaukee (2-3) battled back from a 14-point deficit to crawl within three on multiple occasions in the second half but could never get over the hump.

Jordan Aaron scored 19 points and Demetrius Harris added 16 points and 12 rebounds for Milwaukee, which could not overcome Jacksonville's 29-of-40 free throw clip nor foul trouble for James Haarsma and Thieno Niang.

UWM's rally started after the Panthers dug a 37-23 hole in the first half. The Panthers were within 41-38 early in the second half and still within three 2 other times in the closing minute, but Milwaukee could never get any closer.

After a quick start by Milwaukee in the first four minutes, it was all Jacksonville in the first half. The Panthers jumped out to leads of 7-0, 11-2 and 12-4 before the Dolphins found their stride. Jacksonville took the lead for the first time at 15-14 on a layin by Evin Graham with 12:50 remaining. The lead grew to 26-18 on a layin by Keith McDougal with five minutes left and was 33-21 when Marcellous Bell nailed a three-pointer from the corner with 2:44 remaining. UWM went into the break down, 37-23.

Milwaukee responded immediately as the second half began, scoring the first seven points out of the break to pull within 37-30. The Panthers eventually got to within 41-38 on an Austin Arians layyp with 13:52 remaining and it was a game from there.

Jacksonville was able to restore a 10-point lead and was still up 60-52 with less than four minutes remaining. But Harris brought UWM to within 64-61 on a dunk with 49 seconds left and a three-pointer by Niang made it 67-64 with 21 seconds left. Jacksonville then converted four free throws from there to hang on for the win.

Utah 66, Wright State 54
Wright State trailed by just four at the half, only to see Utah pull away in the second half for a 66-54 decision Saturday night at the Utah Thanksgiving Tournament in Salt Lake City.

Wright State (4-2) came out firing, scoring the first eight points of the game on threes by JT Yoho and Reggie Arceneaux along with a Tavares Sledge layup and the margin was seven at 16-9 as Arceneaux connected on a jumper with 10 minutes remaining in the first half.

Utah, however, followed with eight straight points to go in front for the first time and took the lead for good at 23-22 on two Dallin Bachynski foul shots at the 3:28 mark. Miles Dixon cut the Raider deficit to 28-26 with a jumper in the final minute before Jarred DuBois hit two at the foul line to give the Utes a 30-26 halftime advantage.

Both teams shot the ball well in the opening 20 minutes as Wright State hit 12 of 25 for 48 percent while Utah was nine of 20 for 45 percent, but the Utes also made nine of 11 foul shots while the Raiders did not attempt a free throw.

WSU still only trailed by four at 46-42 following an Arceneaux three with 9:30 to play, but Utah followed with a 17-4 run over the next five minutes, the first 10 coming from Jordan Loveridge, to go up 63-46 with 4:02 left.

The Utes shot 49 percent for the game, including eight of 19 from three-point range, and went 18 of 22 at the foul line while the Raiders shot 44 percent, five of 19 from behind the arc, and was just one of two at the stripe.  Wright State led 24-18 in points in the paint and 19-8 in points off of turnovers.

Arceneaux led WSU with 12 points while Yoho had nine and Kendall Griffin and Dixon eight each.  Matt Vest had five points and dished out six assists.