Green Bay, Detroit, CSU, Oakland Collect Saturday Wins

#HLMBB Scoreboard (Jan. 4)
Green Bay 85, Youngstown State 69
Detroit 58, Wright State 53
Oakland 75, Valparaiso 70
Cleveland State 77, Milwaukee 49

Green Bay became the first Horizon League team to record two wins in conference play, while Detroit and Cleveland State recorded their first conference wins of the season. Oakland picked up its first conference win as a member of the Horizon League.

Green Bay 85, Youngstown State 69
Green Bay continued its strong run of play in the second halves of games, overcoming an early 10-point deficit with a 25-7 second-half run to down visiting Youngstown State, 85-69, on Saturday afternoon at the Resch Center.

Green Bay (11-3, 2-0 Horizon) notched its sixth-straight win, closing a five-game homestand with a perfect record.

Keifer Sykes led the Phoenix run, tallying 13 points and eight assists in the second half before finishing just shy of a triple-double with 24 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Alec Brown also reached 20 points in the Phoenix victory as both of the All-Horizon League Phoenix players shot 9-of-16 from the field.

Hitting eight of its first 12 shots, Youngstown State (9-8, 0-2 Horizon) jumped out to a 25-15 lead 10 minutes into the game. The Phoenix used an 8-0 run to close the gap, but the Penguins led 34-25 with 4:43 to play before halftime. Getting seven points from Sykes and six from Brown, Green Bay closed the half with a 14-4 run to lead 40-38 at halftime.

The 7-foot-1 Brown had 14 points at the break and finished with 20 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots. With his three blocks, Brown has 50 rejections on the season and now owns the top-four spots on the program’s single-season blocks chart.

The Phoenix extended the run into the second half, scoring the first six points. After YSU closed to 46-45, Green Bay scored 25 of the next 32 points to increase its lead to 71-52 with 7:51 remaining.

The second half run has become a common theme for the Phoenix during its winning streak. In the second halves of the past six games, Green Bay is outscoring its opponents by 18 points while shooting 59.8 percent (98-164) and holding its opponents to 28.5 percent shooting from the field (49-172).

As Sykes continued to produce with the shot and the pass, Green Bay’s lead reached as many as 20. Sykes scored or assisted on 14 of the team’s 22 second-half field goals.

Green Bay dominated the paint, holding a 58-20 edge in points in the paint and outrebounding the Penguins 38-31. Led by Sykes, who did not commit a turnover, Green Bay had 18 assists and just 10 turnovers.

After YSU’s quick start, the Penguins made just 13 of their last 40 shots from the field. Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year Kendrick Perry was held seven points below his average with 14 points on 4-of-10 shooting.

Aiding Sykes and Brown, Greg Mays finished with 16 points and seven rebounds and Jordan Fouse tallied 10 points, seven rebounds and four steals.

Detroit 58, Wright State 53
Evan Bruinsma had 17 points and Anton Wilson added 12, including several timely three-pointers as Detroit held off Wright State, 58-53, in its Horizon League opener at Calihan Hall.

After trailing 31-29 at the half, Wright State (9-8, 1-1 Horizon) answered back to build a 44-38 lead with 9:24 left in regulation. But the Titans closed the game with a 20-9 run to record their fourth-straight win at home.

Bruinsma led Detroit (8-8, 1-0 Horizon) with a game-high 17 points, including 12 in the second half,  to go along with nine rebounds while Wilson finished with 12 points on  3-of-4 from shooting 3-point range. Juwan Howard Jr. finished with nine points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Carlton Brundidge added eight points and Jarod Williams pitched in seven. Ugochukwu Njoku grabbed a game and career-high 11 rebounds.

Wright State opened the game with a 6-0 run over the first three minutes of action, before the Titans answered back with an 11-4 run, including a 3-pointer from Howard, to take their first lead of the game 11-10. The Raiders would regain the lead 14-11 with 12 minutes left, before Detroit put together a 13-4 run over the next six minutes to build a 24-18 lead. Wright State would trim Detroit's lead to two, 26-24, with four minutes left before five quick points, including a three-point play the old fashion way from Brundidge gave the Titans a 31-24 lead. The Raiders would close the half with a 5-0 run to make the score 31-29 at intermission. Wilson led Detroit with seven points in the first half, while Bruinsma, Brundidge and Howard each had five.

Detroit scored the first five points of the second stanza and looked liked it would runaway early forcing Wright State head coach Billy Donlon to call a timeout. Following the timeout the Raiders put together a 15-2 run to build their largest lead of the game 44-38 with 9:24 left. A 3-pointer from Wilson followed by eight-straight points from Bruinsma sparked the Titans 20-9 run to close the game.

Detroit finished shooting 36.4 percent (16-of-44) overall, while holding Wright State to 35.8 percent (19-of-53). The Titans finished 6-of-14 from downtown, while the Raiders finished 4-of-22 from beyond the arc. Detroit also forced 13 turnovers, with six steals and five blocked shots.

Chrishawn Hopkins and AJ Pacher led Wright State with a 11 points and five rebounds apiece, while Miles Dixon added nine points and six rebounds.

Oakland 75, Valparaiso 70
Duke Mondy scored 24 points and Travis Bader added 20 as Oakland clinched a 75-70 come-from-behind victory over Valparaiso in its Horizon League home opener.

Oakland (6-11, 1-1 Horizon) trailed for more than 29 minutes until a 19-5 run - including two 3's each by Mondy and Bader - put the Golden Grizzlies ahead with 3:32 to go. An Alec Peters jumper tied the score at 70, but the Crusaders closed out the game with two missed 3-point attempts. One more 3-pointer from Bader and two free throws by Mondy handed Oakland its first Horizon win.

Bader and Mondy combined to make nine of the Golden Grizzlies 10 3-pointers.

LaVonte Dority led Valparaiso (9-8, 1-1 Horizon) with 20 points and five assists, and the team shot 50 percent (24 of 48) from the field. The Crusaders (9-8, 1-1) committed twice as many turnovers as Oakland, 12 to 6.

The Golden Grizzlies used five 3-pointers over the last six minutes to out-score the Crusaders 25-9 the rest of the way.

Entering the second half with an 11-point lead at the break, the Crusaders saw that lead sliced to 46-42 with 15:52 to play as Oakland started the second half on a 9-2 run. Valpo responded immediately, as Keith Carter drained a 3-pointer and Alec Peters followed with a driving basket to push the lead back to nine points.

Two trips later, the Crusaders had a trio of inbounds play thanks to three Oakland fouls and capitalized on their third opportunity, as Dority knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner. After an Oakland miss, Carter came down and connected on his second triple of the half, giving the Crusaders their largest lead at 57-42 with 12:44 to go.

The Grizzlies snapped Valpo’s 11-0 run on their next possession courtesy of a 3-pointer from Mitch Baezinger, but despite Oakland getting its deficit back to single digits, Dority pushed the edge back to 61-50 with another triple at the 10:08 mark.

Valpo scored just one field goal over the next eight minutes, however, as the Grizzlies went on their big run to claim the lead. Dority hit a pair of free throws with 7:15 to play over four straight Oakland points, and Peters finished an off-balance drive with 6:28 to go to make it 65-57 Crusaders.

Mondy and Bader hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions for the Grizzlies to make it a one-possession game, and Bader would give Oakland its first lead since early in the first half with a 3-pointer at the 3:32 mark. Two trips later, Mondy made another triple with 2:25 to play to put the Crusaders behind 70-66.

Valpo would not fold, as Carter drove inside for a layup with two minutes to go, and after a pair of misses at the foul line by Oakland, Peters hit a long jumper to tie things up at 70-all. Bader made his biggest shot of the night on the next trip, however, hitting a 27-footer with a hand in his face to give Oakland the lead for good. The Grizzlies added a pair of free throws for the final margin, as the Crusaders were unable to connect on a pair of 3-point attempts in the final 40 seconds.

The game was tight and high-scoring in the early going, as Oakland led 14-12 just six minutes in. The Crusaders held Oakland to just 19 points the remainder of the half while scoring 32 themselves to take a 44-33 lead into the locker room at the break. Lexus Williams hit three first-half 3-pointers, including two during a key run late in the half which pushed a three-point lead to 13 points, while Dority and Jordan Coleman also scored in double figures in the first half as well.

Dority paced Valpo on Saturday, finishing with 20 points, including four 3-pointers, while also handing out five assists and committing just one turnover. The senior led five players in double figures, as Coleman and Peters ended the night with 12 points each, Williams scored 11 points and Carter chipped in 10 points. Moussa Gueye paced the Valpo effort on the glass with 11 rebounds and also blocked two shots, while Vashil Fernandez tallied three blocks and Jubril Adekoya came up with four steals.

Cleveland State 77, Milwaukee 49
Cleveland State became the first road team to win a Horizon League game this season as Anton Grady posted his second straight double-double and Trey Lewis scored 17 points as the Vikings won at Milwaukee, 77-49, at U.S. Cellular Arena.

Cleveland State (9-7, 1-1 Horizon) balanced its conference record while sending Milwaukee (11-5, 1-1 Horizon) to the same League mark. Road teams came into tonight 0-7 in Horizon League play during the first weekend, but the Vikings were able to notch a road win and split their trip through Wisconsin.

Grady finished with a season-high tying 19 points and 11 rebounds, hitting 8-of-9 from the field. He added two steals. It was his third double-double this year and seventh of his career.

Lewis hit 7-of-10 from the field for his 17 points and added four assists. Charlie Lee, playing in his hometown, finished with 10 points and four assists, while Jon Harris returned to action after missing Thursday's game at Green Bay and totaled nine points and eight rebounds.

CSU scorched the nets at a 58-percent clip (29-of-50), including 8-of-15 (53.3 percent) from 3-point range.

The Vikings defense was also at its best, limiting the Panthers to just 12-of-43 (27.9 percent) shooting from the floor, including 0-of-16 from three-point. It marked the 16th time an opponent failed to hit a three-pointer against the Vikings and the first since Butler failed to do so on Feb. 11, 2012.

Jordan Aaron led the Panthers with 14 points and five rebounds.

The Vikings scored the first six points of the game and would extend the lead to 11-2 just six minutes in on a Charlie Lee 3-pointer.

CSU hit four of its first five 3-pointers, the final one coming at the 8:22 mark by Harris which gave the Vikings a 16-point lead, 26-10. The first half lead reached as many as 17 points, 29-12, on a Harris jumper.

The Vikings lead at halftime, 37-22, the 12th time in 16 games that CSU led after the opening 20 minutes.

It was hot shooting from the floor that helped CSU stake claim to a 15-point halftime lead as the Vikings hit 14-of-24 (58.3 percent) from the field in the opening stanza, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range.

Lewis bettered his season scoring average of 13.6 points with 14 first half points, going 6-of-7 from the field, while Grady made all three of his shots en route to seven points in the opening half.

Milwaukee was just 6-of-20 (30.0 percent) from the field in the first half, but was able to take advantage of 16 trips to the free throw line, hitting 11.

The Panthers were able to get back within 12 points early in the second half, but eight straight points by Grady and a Sebastian Douglas layup extended CSU's lead back to 18, 49-31, with just under 12 minutes to play. A Lee 3-pointer midway through the second half pushed the lead to 53-32, and the Panthers would not threaten the rest of the night.

The Vikings shot better than 50-percent from the field for the eighth time this year, improving to 6-2 in those games.