Men's Basketball Championship - First-Round Summary
March 4, 2008
(#3 seed) Wright State 60, (#10 seed) Detroit 37 Box ScoreDayton, Ohio (AP) - Scottie Wilson had 15 points and nine rebounds Tuesday night, and Wright State allowed only 13 points in the second half of a 60-37 victory over Detroit in the first round of the Horizon League Championship.
Wright State (21-9) lost its last two games in League play, slipping to the No. 3 seed in the tournament, and trailed by nine points late in the first half. The Raiders' defense finally dug in and pulled it out.
Detroit (7-23) went only 5-of-22 from the field in the second half and failed to score again after Eulis Stephens made a 3-pointer with 6:43 to play. Detroit lost all three of its games against Wright State this season.
Vaughn Duggins added 12 points for Wright State, which shot 63 percent from the field in the second half. Duggins opened the half with back-to-back 3-pointers.
Stephens went 7-of-14 from the field and scored 18 points. Only four other Detroit players scored.
(#4 seed) UIC 70, (#9 seed) Youngstown State 59 Box ScoreChicago, Ill. (AP) - Robert Bush scored 14 points as UIC defeated Youngstown State 70-59 to advance to the second round of the Horizon League Championship.
UIC (17-14) outscored Youngstown State 26-12 to start the game and cruised to the easy victory. Josh Mayo added 13 points for the Flames, who will play Loyola on Friday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Mayo extended the Flames' lead with a 3-pointer to put them up 48-29 with 15:55 left to play. It was the Flames' largest lead of the game.
The Penguins cut the deficit to 57-48 on Dwight Holmes' steal and dunk, but the Flames quickly got the lead back to double-digits. Spencer Stewart made two free throws and Bush hit a jumper to give the Flames a 61-48 with 2:44 left to play. Stewart finished with 10 points and Scott VanderMeer had 13 rebounds and seven points.
Byron Davis led Youngstown State (5-14) with a game-high 22 points.
The Flames shot 58.3 percent in the first half and held Youngstown State to 28.1 percent. Bush scored eight points in the first half and Robert Kreps added seven points for the Flames, who led 37-21 at the half.
UIC outrebounded Youngstown State 44-30.
(#8 seed) Loyola 57, (#5 seed) Milwaukee 51 Box ScoreMilwaukee, Wis. (AP) - J.R. Blount scored 23 points and sparked a second-half rally that carried 8eighth-seeded Loyola to a 57-51 victory over fifth-seeded Milwaukee in the opening round of the Horizon League Championship.
The Ramblers (12-18), who have won three of their last four games, will play UIC on Friday night in a second-round game in Indianapolis. Tracy Robinson added 13 points for Loyola.
The Panthers (14-16) ended their season by losing five of their last six games. They were led by Ricky Franklin with 17 points and Deion James with 14.
Milwaukee's Jason Averkamp nailed a 3-pointer with 58.6 seconds left to cut Loyola's lead to 52-51. But Ross Forman put in a short jumper with 27.6 seconds remaining to boost the Rambler lead to 54-51 and Loyola hung on to win.
Milwaukee led 35-30 after a basket by Franklin. But Loyola, getting all its points from Blount, outscored the Panthers 9-2 and his basket with 9:24 remaining gave his team a 39-37 lead.
The lead kept changing hands the rest of the way. Andy Polka's basket with 3:04 left put the Ramblers up 49-48 and Forman followed with another score for a three-point lead.
Loyola led 19-17 after a tight first half in which both teams had trouble scoring.
A basket by Milwaukee's Marcus Skinner tied the game for the fifth time at 15-15. But Darrin Williams and Robinson scored on two straight possessions to put the Ramblers up 19-15. Williams' basket with 2:04 remaining gave Loyola a 17-15 lead.
Milwaukee had beaten Loyola 68-53 Feb. 28.
(#6 seed) Valparaiso 75, (#7 seed) Green Bay 67 Box ScoreValparaiso, Ind. (AP) - Urule Igbavboa had 14 points and 10 rebounds as five Crusaders scored in double digits and Valparaiso beat Green Bay 75-67 Tuesday night in the first round of the Horizon League Championship.
Valpo (20-12) will face Wright State (21-9) in the second round Friday in Indianapolis.
Shawn Huff led the Crusaders with 16. Jake Diebler and Jarryd Loyd had 13 each and Bryan Bouchie had 11 points for Valpo, which led 29-17 at the break.
The Phoenix (15-15) outshot Valparaiso from the field and 3-point range, but the Crusaders enjoyed a sizable advantage at the free-throw line, where they were 31-of-45. Green Bay was just 12-of-22 from the line.
Valpo outrebounded the Phoenix 39-38.
Mike Schachtner paced Green Bay with 14, and Rahmon Fletcher and Ryan Tillema had 13 each. Randy Berry had 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Note: The winners of tonight's games will meet in the second round of the tournament, at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Wright State meets Valparaiso at 6 p.m. (EST), followed by UIC versus Loyola in the nightcap.
