Men’s Basketball Scoreboard (Jan. 19)
Green Bay 77, Cleveland State 50
Detroit 98, UIC 47
Youngstown State 75, Milwaukee 72
Valparaiso 69, Wright State 63
It was a Saturday full of tournament-like atmospheres around the Horizon League, with two games coming down to the last minute and Detroit breaking a 22-year old record as well. By the end of the night, Valparaiso had moved to the top of the Horizon League standings, with Detroit, Wright State and Green Bay in hot pursuit.
Green Bay 77, Cleveland State 50
Jordan Fouse scored a career-high 17 points and added 10 rebounds, four assists, four steals and three blocked shots, leading a balanced Green Bay attack as the Phoenix rolled past visiting Cleveland State, 77-50, at the Resch Center.
Green Bay (10-9, 4-2 Horizon) won its seventh straight game at the Resch Center and fourth in a row overall, moving into a tie for third place in the Horizon League.
During its winning streak, Green Bay has held opponents to just 49.3 points per game and 33.4 percent shooting. The defense was on display again on Saturday, with the Phoenix blocking 10 shots and limiting Cleveland State (10-10, 2-4 Horizon) to just 34.6 percent shooting (18-of-52).
The 10 blocks were tied for the second-most in program history, and Alec Brown led the effort, per usual. The program's all-time leading shot blocker had a season-high six blocks and averaged four swats per game on the homestand. Brown now has 187 blocked shots in his career.
Sultan Muhammad drained a pair of three-pointers as part of a 13-0 run that turned a 4-2 deficit into a 15-4 lead just over five minutes into the game. Muhammad made his first four shots (3-3 3FGs) and had 13 of his 15 points at halftime. Brown and Keifer Sykes each scored 14 points and Brennan Cougill had a double-double off the Phoenix bench with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Green Bay has had five occasions in its Division I history where two teammates tallied double-doubles in the same game. Four of them have come in the past three years under Wardle, and Cougill has been involved three times.
With five players in double figures, the offense was effective as Green Bay shot 54.8 percent from the field and made 25-of-32 free throws (13-of-13 second half). The Phoenix started 8-of-15 from the line before sinking its last 17 attempts.
However, as it has been the entire home winning streak, the defense was the catalyst. Despite Brown's blocks, it was the freshman Fouse leading the charge. Playing the top of a 1-2-2 zone, the 6-foot-7 Fouse disrupted the Vikings offense.
After CSU whittled a 15-point lead down to nine late in the first half, Fouse tallied four points, a steal and an assist in an 18-second stretch which sparked a 7-0 run to end the half. Green Bay led 43-26 at the break and was ahead by double digits the rest of the way.
Midway through the second half with Green Bay leading by 18 points, the Phoenix went on a 16-4 run including seven points from Brown and six from Sykes to extend its lead to 30 with 2:44 remaining.
Getting 10 rebounds from Cougill and Fouse, Green Bay also dominated the backboard. The Phoenix outrebounded Cleveland State 41-18 and limited CSU to just five offensive rebounds.
Green Bay will now take to the road for four games in a row, beginning with a game on Wednesday night at Valparaiso.
Detroit 98, UIC 47
Every Titan on the active roster scored, for the second time this season, as Detroit routed UIC, 98-47, on Homecoming night at Calihan Hall.
Detroit (12-7, 4-2 Horizon) set a new Horizon League record for margin of victory, breaking the old record of 46, held by Marquette in an 82-36 win over Loyola on Jan. 19, 1991. The 51-point victory is the largest for Detroit since topping Puerto Rico – Mayaguez, 92-41, at the 1999 San Juan Shootout.
Ray McCallum led the Titans with a game-high 25 points on 10-of-12 shooting, while classmate Jason Calliste added 20 points and Nick Minnerath pitched in 14. McCallum also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, while dishing out five assists. Doug Anderson also scored in double figures with 10 points, while Jermaine Lippert recorded a career-high seven points to go along with four rebounds.
Detroit jumped out to an early 9-2 lead heading into the first media timeout, before closing the half with a 44-12 run to take a 53-14 lead into the locker room. Minnerath started the charge with nine of the first 14 points scored by Detroit, including a couple of three-pointers, before McCallum took over and scored the final six points for the Titans. McCallum finished the first half with 16 points, while Minnerath had 12. The Titans shot 60.6 percent (20-33) in the half, while holding UIC to just 25.0 percent (6-24).
UIC (11-8, 2-4 Horizon) scored the first four points of the second half to trim the Titans lead to 53-19, before Detroit put together a 37-17 run to build its largest lead of the game, 90-36, with 6:05 remaining in regulation. Detroit then cleared its bench in the closing minutes as Olumide Solanke scored the final points for the Titans to put everyone on the active roster in the scorebook.
Detroit won the battle on the boards, 39-32, and forced 21 UIC turnovers, which resulted in 32 points for the Titans. Detroit also dished out 18 assists while recording 10 steals and four blocked shots. Detroit shot 54.8 percent (34-of-62) overall, including 45.5 percent (10-of-22) from downtown, while the Flames shot 32.1 percent (17-of-53) overall. Detroit also finished 20-of-28 from the charity stripe, while UIC only connected on 9-of-18 from the foul line.
UIC was led by Gary Talton who scored 11 points while Anthony Kelley grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
Detroit will conclude its three-game homestand when it welcomes Wright State to Calihan Hall on Monday, Jan. 21.
Youngstown State 75, Milwaukee 72
Kamren Belin scored a career-high 21 points and led three players scoring in double figures as Youngstown State defeated Milwaukee, 75-72, at the Klotsche Center.
Youngstown State (10-8, 2-3 Horizon) split its road trip to Wisconsin, while Milwaukee (5-14, 1-4 Horizon) dropped its fourth home game of the year.
Seniors Damian Eargle and Blake Allen also reached double figures with 17 and 16 points, respectively. Allen connected on 4-of-7 from 3-point range while Eargle has seven boards and three blocks.
Allen made two free throws with just 21 seconds left to put the Penguins ahead 75-72 and, after a UWM timeout, the defense did not allow the Panthers a chance to get a game-tying 3-point attempt off.
In a game that featured 12 lead changes and seven ties, DJ Cole’s three-pointer with 6:37 left snapped a 63-63 tie and gave the Penguins a 66-63 advantage, a lead they would not surrender.
The first half was a high-scoring affair with 11 made 3-pointers combined. The Panthers made six from behind the arc and the Penguins connected on five from downtown.
The first half also saw four lead changes and three times and big runs by both teams.
The Penguins, who shot 55.2 percent from the floor in the first half, was able to jump out to an 18-12 lead with 13 minute left, but the Panthers used a 13-0 run to take a 25-18 advantage at the 10:16 mark.
Allen began the game with two straight 3's for YSU and Eargle made scored six straight at one point to give the Penguins a 12-7 edge just five minutes in.
Youngstown State answered with a 13-5 run over the next five minutes to regain a 31-30 lead after Belin hit his first 3-pointer of the game at the 5:26 mark.
After the Panthers tied the game at 35-35, Belin nailed a 3-pointer followed by another by Allen, who had three 3's in the first half, to push the Guins' advantage to 41-35.
Perry made to free throws with 59 seconds left and a three-point play by UWM's Austin Arians ended the first half scoring with YSU owning a 43-39 lead.
Valparaiso 69, Wright State 63
Trailing for most of the game, Valparaiso scored on its final 10 possessions to overcome a late seven-point deficit in the final seven minutes to down Wright State, 69-63, at the ARC.
With the come-from-behind victory in front of a raucous crowd of 4,860, the Crusaders end Saturday in sole possession of first place in the Horizon League standings, holding a 5-1 League mark and a 15-5 overall record.
Trailing, 34-30, the Crusaders utilized the three-pointer to stay within striking distance, hitting four triples in the first six minutes of the second half, the last two of which came on back-to-back trips from Will Bogan, to tie the game at 42-all.
But Wright State (13-5, 4-1 Horizon) would respond with its defense, holding Valpo to just two points over the next eight minutes, and a layup by Kendall Griffin gave the Raiders their largest lead at 51-44 with 7:44 remaining.
Matt Kenney hit a wide-open LaVonte Dority to stop the run and move the Crusaders back within five points with 6:27 to play. Two trips later, Valpo started its stretch of points on 10 consecutive possessions innocuously enough, as Ryan Broekhoff found Kevin Van Wijk for an inside basket to cut the deficit to three points with 5:24 remaining.
The teams then started trading points, as Wright State got baskets by Tavares Sledge, Cole Darling and Miles Dixon on three straight trips, countered by a 3-pointer and two free throws from Kenney and another inside hoop from Van Wijk, as the Crusaders were within 57-55 with 2:51 left.
Darling connected on two free throws on the Raiders’ next possession, but Broekhoff answered with a quick-trigger three from Erik Buggs to make it just a one-point game as it approached two minutes to play.
Buggs then came up with the defensive play of the night, stepping up and blocking a 3-point attempt from Reggie Arceneaux. Broekhoff corralled the rebound to give Valpo a chance to take its first lead of the second half, and then the senior was sent to the foul line, where he hit both with 1:29 to play, putting the Crusaders ahead 60-59.
Arcenceaux was fouled on Wright State’s next possession and hit both to return the lead to the Raiders’ side of the ledger, but again Broekhoff stepped up with a key play, driving inside for a tough layup to make it 62-61 Valpo with 54 seconds to play. The Raiders shot quickly, looking for a two-for-one, but missed, and with about a seven-second difference between the shot and game clocks, Kenney hit Broekhoff for a wide-open 3-pointer with 26 seconds to play to give the Crusaders a 65-61 lead.
Arceneaux returned to the foul line for the Raiders, hitting a pair of free throws to slice Valpo’s lead to two, but facing a full-court press, Broekhoff hit Kenney with an over-the-top pass in stride for an easy fast-break layup to make it 67-63 with 17 seconds left.
Wright State missed a baseline jumper and sent Kenney to the line for a one-and-one. He missed the front end, but Broekhoff out-leapt everyone for the back tap to retain possession and was fouled with four seconds to play, converting both freebies for the final margin.
It was the play of the senior Van Wijk which led the Crusaders in the first half. The senior, coming off a career-best performance in Thursday’s win at Detroit, scored 14 points in the first 20 minutes, going 4-of-5 from the floor and 6-of-8 from the foul line.
Valpo led early at 7-5 three minutes in, but Wright State hit a pair of triples in a three-possession stretch to take a lead it would not relinquish in the opening stanza. The Raider advantage peaked at six points before a late bucket by Van Wijk off a Kenney feed made it 34-30 heading into the locker room.
Broekhoff and Van Wijk tied for team-high honors with 18 points, with the former adding 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double in the last five games. Van Wijk did his damage on 6-of-9 shooting from the field while also grabbing seven rebounds and handing out a career-best four assists. Kenney finished with 15 points and a team-best six assists. The Crusaders assisted on 16 of their 21 field goals while committing a season-low seven turnovers.
Wright State (13-5, 4-1 Horizon), which entered the game as the lone unbeaten in the league, got a game-high 22 points from Darling, including a 10-of-13 effort at the free throw line. Arceneaux was the only other Raider in double figures with 14 points, but went just 3-of-9 from the field.
Valparaiso defends the ARC again on Wednesday evening as Green Bay comes to town for a 8:05 p.m. tip.
