Men’s Basketball Scoreboard (Jan. 2)
Loyola 63, Valparaiso 54
UIC 65, Youngstown State 60
Kent State 72, Cleveland State 55
If this is how Horizon League men's basketball play is going to be throughout the year, we're all in for a treat. In two games that had all the intensity of a March tournament game, Loyola and UIC gave the city of Chicago two wins on the first night of Horizon League play. Cleveland State dropped its final non-conference game on Wednesday night.
Loyola 63, Valparaiso 54
In a classic physical Horizon League game, Loyola out-toughed defending regular season champion Valparaiso, 63-54, at the Athletics-Recreation Center.
A year after winning just one conference game, Loyola (10-3, 1-0 Horizon) served notice that it will not be taken lightly this season, winning its third straight road game and handing Valparaiso (10-5, 0-1 Horizon) its first regular-season conference home loss in over a year.
The Ramblers once again keyed on defense, holding Valparaiso to 35.7-percent shooting and outrebounding a Crusaders team that entered the night with a plus-6.6 rebound advantage, 34-32.
Leading 26-24 at the half, Loyola trailed just once in the second half, 27-26, after a three-pointer by Ryan Broekhoff gave the Crusaders the brief lead.
However, a Christian Thomas layup restored the Crusaders’ lead, and Loyola would not trail the remainder of the contest.
Midway through the half, it was senior Ben Averkamp who put Loyola on his back, as the forward’s three-point play blunted the momentum from a Matt Kenney layup, getting a three-point play to put the Ramblers up, 42-37, with 8:55 to go.
Averkamp had seven of the Ramblers’ 13 points in the game’s decisive 13-5 run, which stretched a two-point Loyola lead to 52-42 with 4:23 remaining.
Valparaiso would draw no closer than seven the rest of the way.
Averkamp led all scorers with a game-high 26, going 8-of-9 at the free-throw line, contributing five assists and five rebounds, while Christian Thomas continued his strong play with 14 points. Cully Payne added 13 and seven assists.
Broekhoff stuffed the stat sheet with 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Kevin Van Wijk and LaVonte Dority each recorded 10 points for the Crusaders.
Valparaiso will host Cleveland State on Friday, in a game carried by ESPNU at 7 p.m. EST. Loyola will open its home conference schedule on Saturday, welcoming Youngstown State to Gentile Arena at 4 p.m. EST.
UIC 65, Youngstown State 60
In a game that featured 14 lead changes, 13 in the second half, it was Gary Talton’s three-pointer with 17.9 seconds remaining that proved the difference in UIC’s 65-60 win over visiting Youngstown State at the UIC Pavilion.
UIC (10-4, 1-0 Horizon) snapped its three-game losing streak and improved to 6-0 at the Pavilion this season.
In a game in which no second-half lead was larger than six points, Youngstown State (8-6, 0-1 Horizon) lost its fourth game this season in overtime or the final minute of regulation.
Talton’s three came with the shot clock winding down after Youngstown State had already thwarted Talton’s layup attempt with the Penguins leading 60-59. After inbounding from the left baseline, Talton could not toss an entry pass to Josh Crittle, instead settling on the three.
Youngstown State took a timeout with 11.2 seconds left, but Kendrick Perry’s attempt at a game-winning three, caromed to Talton, who grabbed the rebound and was fouled.
Talton split his two free throws, but Youngstown State’s attempted length of the court pass sailed out of bounds without being touched, giving the ball back to UIC. Talton then hit two more free throws to close out the game.
The senior scored a game-high 19 points, going 7-of-15 from the floor and 3-of-4 at the free throw line, contributing six assists against just one turnover. As a team, UIC went 14-for-18 at the charity stripe.
Youngstown State was poised to grab the League-opening road win after Blake Allen’s three with 1:31 left gave the Penguins a 60-59 lead. The three gave Allen 12 points in the game, as the guard posted his second double-double of the year in adding 10 rebounds.
UIC opened a 36-31 lead early in the second half, but Youngstown State responded with a dunk by Kendrick Perry and Allen three-pointer to take a 40-39 lead with 13:59 to play. From there, neither team led by more than one possession until Talton’s two free throws with two seconds remaining.
Playing 40 minutes, Perry led the Penguins with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting corralling nine rebounds. Kamren Belin added 11 points, while D.J. Cole had 10.
Hayden Humes snapped out of his scoring slump with 15 points for UIC, while Daniel Barnes added 10 points and seven rebounds. Josh Crittle helped the Flames handle YSU’s Damian Eargle down low, limiting Eargle to four points and two rebounds while finishing with 14 points and seven boards.
UIC will travel to Cleveland State on Monday, Jan. 7, while the Penguins will be at Loyola on Saturday.
Kent State 72, Cleveland State 55
Kent State used a quick start and answered a second half rally by Cleveland State to claim a 72-55 win at the Wolstein Center.
Cleveland State (8-6) saw its seven-game winning streak at the Wolstein Center snapped.
Bryn Forbes led the Vikings with 12 points, his seventh double figure scoring game out of the last eight. Tim Kamczyc finished with 10 points and a career-high three blocked shots, while Marlin Mason scored seven points with eight rebounds. Devon Long added nine points and six rebounds.
A Long offensive rebound and put back started the scoring, but Kent State scored 16 of the next 18 points to take a 16-4 lead at the 12:37 mark of the first half. Forbes answered back with seven straight points for the Vikings, bringing CSU back within 19-11 with 10:30 to play, but a 13-2 spurt by the Golden Flashes extended their lead to 19 points, 32-13 on a Chris Evans dunk with just over six minutes to play in the half.
CSU was able to pull back within 37-26 as Lomomba scored seven straight points on a four-point play and a three-point play. A Forbes three-pointer just before the end of the half allowed the Vikings to go into the locker room down just 39-29.
Two quick baskets to open the second half extended the Golden Flashes lead to 43-29, but the Vikings answered with a Mason three-pointer to start a 12-0 run by the Vikings that brought them within 43-41.
But Kent State regained momentum, using two free throws from Randal Holt after a technical foul on CSU to start a 24-6 run and push the lead back to 20 points, 64-47, with under just over five minutes to play.
Hold led Kent State with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Kris Brewer scored 17 points. Chris Evans tallied 11 points and nine rebounds for the Golden Flashes, which out-rebounded the Vikings, 35-27.
