Men's Basketball Final Shot: Feb. 26 - Valpo Clinches No. 1 Seed

Men’s Basketball Scoreboard (Feb. 26)
Valparaiso 73, Youngstown State 64
Detroit 76, Loyola 75
Green Bay 78, Milwaukee 61
UIC 60, Wright State 55

The Horizon League Men’s Basketball Tournament will return to Valparaiso, Ind., after Valparaiso locked up the No. 1 seed with a come-from-behind win over Youngstown State on Tuesday night. Detroit also clinched a double-bye, using a buzzer-beater to get past Loyola. Meanwhile, Green Bay and UIC both improved their seeding possibilities with home wins.

Valparaiso 73, Youngstown State 64
On Senior Night, with the Horizon League’s No. 1 seed resting within its grasp, Valparaiso found itself down 13 points before rallying for a 73-64 win over visiting Youngstown State at the ARC.

Valparaiso (23-7, 12-3 Horizon) clinched the No. 1 seed for the second straight season and will host the 2^nd round, semifinals and championship should it advance that far. However, a shorthanded Youngstown State (16-13, 7-8 Horizon) proved a game test for the Crusaders.

The Penguins, playing without Kendrick Perry for the second straight game, blitzed Valparaiso after falling into a quick 6-2 hole, shooting 58.6 percent in the first half, building a 39-26 lead with 2:46 remaining in the half after Blake Allen’s three-point play.

However, Valparaiso closed the half by outscoring Youngstown State, 10-4, going into the half down seven, 43-36.

The Crusaders would maintain its momentum into the second half, getting the ARC on its feet early in the half on a three-pointer from Ryan Broekhoff brought the Crusaders within 45-44. A free throw from Kevin Van Wijk would tie the game before Matt Kenney’s layup with 10:55 remaining gave the Crusaders a lead they would not relinquish.

LaVonte Dority’s three capped the game-deciding 20-4 run, pushing Valparaiso’s lead to 56-47, forcing Youngstown State into a timeout.

The Penguins would draw no closer than six points the rest of the way, with Van Wijk’s thunderous dunk with 4:11 left emphatically sealing a share of the conference championship.

Broekhoff notched his seventh double-double of the year with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while fellow senior Van Wijk had 15 points and 14 boards. Will Bogan added 10 for the Crusaders.

Allen finished with a game-high 22 points, his second consecutive game with 20 or more points. DJ Cole had 15 and Damian Eargle 12, becoming the 146^th player in Horizon League men’s basketball history with 1,000 career points. The senior now has 1,001 for his career.

Valparaiso will close the regular season at Green Bay on Saturday, March 3, at 3 p.m. EST, with ESPNU carrying the game. Youngstown State will head to Wright State in the Horizon League Network Game of the Week on Saturday at 2 p.m. EST. The Penguins need a win combined with a UIC loss to claim the No. 5 seed for the Horizon League Tournament; otherwise, YSU will be the No. 6 seed.

Detroit 76, Loyola 75
Jason Calliste’s layup with 0.3 seconds left capped a wild final sequence and gave Detroit the No. 2 seed for the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Tournament after a 76-75 win over Loyola on Senior Night at Calihan Hall.

Detroit (19-10, 11-4 Horizon) can still win a share of the regular season with a win in its final conference game at UIC and a Valparaiso loss at Green Bay on Saturday.

Against a game Loyola (14-15, 4-11 Horizon) squad, Detroit saw a 42-33 halftime lead fade in the second half as the Ramblers and Titans traded the lead 18 times.

Loyola took its final lead of the game, 75-74, with 9.4 seconds left as Jeff White and Christian Thomas executed a high pick-and-roll. With Nick Minnerath switching onto the speedy White, the freshman point guard took advantage, driving from the left wing to the right side of the rim, where his layup put the Ramblers in position to win.

Following a timeout, Detroit inbounded the ball to Calliste, who came up the right side before driving into the middle of the lane. The junior’s layup hit the backboard and came through the net, setting off a wild post-game celebration on Dick Vitale Court.

The Titans led by as many as 11 in the game, but Loyola – playing without two starters – fought back and had a four-point lead, 69-65, with 4:14 left. A jumper by Minnerath and two free throws from Calliste tied it, but the Ramblers jumped ahead again by three, 72-69, with 2:18 remaining.

The two seniors, Minnerath and Doug Anderson led the charge back as Minnerath found Anderson streaking to the basket for a layup to cut the deficit to one and then after a Loyola miss, Calliste found Minnerath wide open for a three on the left side, igniting the Calihan Hall crowd and giving Detroit a 74-73 lead with 1:18 left, setting up the final minute wildness.

Ray McCallum led all scorers with 22 points, while Minnerath added 21 and Anderson 14. Calliste’s bucket came on a night in which he was 2-of-10 from the floor and finished with seven points.

The game was back and forth early on, but the visiting Ramblers opened a three-point lead, 28-25, at the 7:32 mark in the first half. However, a 14-0 Titans run over the next three minutes to take an 11-point advantage, 39-28, eventually taking a 42-33 lead at the break.

UDM continued to take the lead and was ahead by nine, 56-47, with 12:22 remaining when the Ramblers went on a 12-2 spurt to take a 59-58 lead. Detroit would take a three-point lead on two occasions in the next two minutes before Loyola reclaimed the lead and pushed it to four, 69-65.

The Ramblers, who played the game with only seven healthy scholarship players, got a team-high 20 points from Jordan Hicks, but dropped their sixth game play by three points or less in Horizon League play. Thomas added 15 points and 10 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the year, while White scored all 13 of his points in the second half and dished out a career-best seven assists. Devon Turk added 12 points and Matt O’Leary pitched in 11 points off the bench.

Detroit will head to Temple for a non-conference game on Thursday before traveling to Chicago to face UIC on Saturday at 2 p.m. EST. Loyola will host Cleveland State on Saturday, needing a win to claim the No. 7 seed in the Horizon League Tournament.

Green Bay 78, Milwaukee 61
Green Bay grabbed sole possession of third place in the Horizon League standings, rolling past Milwaukee, 78-61, at the Resch Center.

A win over Valparaiso on Saturday (3 p.m. EST, ESPNU) will clinch the No. 3 seed and resulting bye for Green Bay (16-13, 10-5 Horizon), which won its fourth straight game in Horizon League play.

On Tuesday, the Phoenix got out to a quick start behind Alec Brown, who notched his second career-high scoring effort of the year against Milwaukee. At Milwaukee, Brown tallied 23 points; playing at home, Brown finished with 28 points, going 10-of-12 from the floor and 4-of-5 from three-point range.

The All-Horizon League big man added eight rebounds and three blocked shots as the Phoenix used a 15-1 second half run to pull away from the Panthers.

Keifer Sykes added 18 points and six assists for the Phoenix, scoring 11 of his points after halftime. The sophomore has now scored 10 or more points in the second half in each of his last five conference games. Greg Mays joined Sykes in double figures with 15 points and eight rebounds and Sultan Muhammad scored all eight of his points in the second half.

Milwaukee (8-23, 3-13 Horizon) was within 57-52 after a Paris Gulley jumper with 6:24 remaining but Green Bay scored nine points over the next 70 seconds to seize control of the game.

Brown kick-started the run with a three, and Muhammad got out in transition following a Milwaukee miss to convert a three-point play, pushing the Green Bay lead to 11, 63-52, with 5:41 left. Brown’s fourth three of the game capped the burst, and the Panthers would come no closer than 13 points the rest of the game.

Jordan Fouse had eight rebounds, a career-high five assists, five steals and two blocks; the freshman is now two steals shy of breaking the program's freshman record of 50 (Terry Evans in 2005-06).

Green Bay enjoyed a 40-22 edge on points in the paint and a 36-25 rebounding edge.

Gulley led Milwaukee with 19 points, coming on 6-of-17 shooting, while Demetrius Harris continued his strong season with 15 points. Jordan Aaron matched Harris with 15, going 9-of-11 at the free-throw line. On the night, the Panthers shot 37.5 percent, going 18-of-48 from the floor and 4-for-17 from three-point range.

The game marked the end of the regular season for Milwaukee, which will be the ninth seed in the League tournament and will await the results of Saturday's games to determine their opponent for Tuesday's first round. If Green Bay beats Valparaiso Saturday, the Panthers will play at Wright State. But if the Phoenix lose and the Raiders win, Milwaukee would make a return trip to Green Bay.

UIC 60, Wright State 55
UIC secured a home game in the First Round of the Horizon League Tournament, holding off a pesky Wright State squad, 60-55, at the UIC Pavilion.

UIC (16-13, 7-8 Horizon) moved into position to claim the No. 5 seed for the conference tournament should it win against Detroit on Saturday (2 p.m. EST, HLN). If the Flames fall to Detroit, it needs Youngstown State to lose at Wright State, otherwise, it will be the No. 6 seed.

Wright State (18-11, 9-6 Horizon) fell into fourth place in the Horizon League, one game behind Green Bay. The Raiders will need to defeat Youngstown State on Saturday and have the Phoenix lose to Valparaiso to claim the No. 3 seed. Wright State can finish no worse than the No. 4 seed for the League Tournament.

On Tuesday, Wright State twice erased 11-point deficits, only to see missed opportunities at the end of the game keep the Raiders from potentially winning or forcing overtime.

Trailing 56-52 with 35 seconds left, Wright State had a chance to cut the deficit in half, but Tavares Sledge’s layup came off the rim, allowing Gary Talton to knock down two free throws. JT Yoho would drill a three to make it a one-possession game, 58-55, with 14 ticks on the clock, but Talton sealed the game at the free-throw line.

UIC led 49-38 with 9:15 remaining, using a 13-2 run to snap a 36-36 tie, as Daniel Barnes scored seven of his team-high 13 points in the stretch, before Wright State stormed back.

The Flames broke a 6-6 tie with 11 straight points to go up 17-6 eight minutes into the game, only to see the Raiders answer with a 19-4 run to take a 27-23 lead at the 3:05 mark.  The run saw seven different WSU players score, including five from Jerran Young.

UIC scored the final four points of the period to force a 27-27 tie at halftime, but Wright State went up four twice in the opening three minutes of the second half, the second time at 34-30 on a Young three.

Yoho led all scorers with 16 off the bench while Young had 13 and Kendall Griffin 10 for Wright State, but no other Raider managed more than six.

Both teams entered the locker room tied at 27-27 at halftime.

WSU scored the first four points of the second half, opening up a 31-27 lead with 18:27 remaining. The Flames claimed their first lead of the half, 36-34, after Marc Brown’s second three-point play opportunity of the stanza.

With the win, UIC clinched its first postseason home game since the 2007-08 season. The Flames’ 16wins also represents the most overall victories since the 2008-09 campaign. Barnes’ 13 points came on a 5-for-8 effort from the field, including a pair of three-pointers. Hayden Humes added 10 points on a trio of three-pointers.