Men's Basketball Final Shot: Jan. 4 - Last-Second Thrillers Mark Saturday

Men’s Basketball Scoreboard (Jan. 4)
Detroit 84, Green Bay 76
Youngstown State 68, Loyola 66
Wright State 53, Milwaukee 51

Two Horizon League men’s basketball games came down to the final possession on Saturday, while Detroit and Green Bay engaged in an entertaining affair in the Horizon League Network Game of the Week. At the end of the day, both the Titans and Wright State remained unbeaten in League play, while Youngstown State collected an important weekend split.

Detroit 84, Green Bay 76
In a whistle-heavy game that featured 50 fouls, Ray McCallum scored a game-high 26 points to lead Detroit to an 84-76 win over visiting Green Bay on Dick Vitale Court at Calihan Hall.

In the Horizon League Network Game of the Week, Detroit (10-5, 2-0 Horizon) went 38-of-42 at the free-throw line, led by McCallum’s 13-of-15 effort. The League’s Preseason Player of the Year added six rebounds, two assists and four steals.

All five of Detroit's starters scored in double figures and registered every point for the Titans, for the second time in the last three games, as Detroit extended its home-court winning streak to 17 games. The win was also Detroit's 21st straight when scoring 80 or more points dating back to the 2010-11 season.

In a game of cat and mouse, Detroit found ways to answer three Green Bay (6-9, 0-2 Horizon) runs, enabling the Titans to move to the top of the Horizon League ladder.

Coming out the aggressor, Green Bay opened the game with a 12-6 run before the first media timeout.

However, the Titans answered back with a 9-0 run to take a 15-12 lead; following a Phoenix bucket, Detroit went on a 16-9 run to build a 31-23 lead with 7:31 remaining. The run was sparked by back-to-back three pointers from Juwan Howard, Jr. and Jason Calliste.

Down 42-34 in the waning moments of the half, Kam Cerroni then made a three pointer for Green Bay to trim the Titans lead to 42-37 heading into the locker room.

Cerroni’s three triggered an 8-0 Green Bay burst across the halves, as the Phoenix drew even with Detroit at 42, only to see the Titans respond with an 11-2 run, building its largest lead of the game, 53-44, with 14:23 remaining.

Displaying its resolve, Green Bay would trim the Titans lead to 53-52, before tying the score 61-61 with 6:52 left. But that was as close as the score would get as Detroit responded with a 16-7 run, including an alley-oop dunk to Doug Anderson that brought the fans to their feet as the Titans built a 77-68 lead with just over a minute to play.

The Phoenix closed within 80-76 on Cole Stefan’s first three-pointer of his Green Bay career, but the Titans made their last six free throw opportunities to help seal the win.

Green Bay won the battle on the boards, 35-28, but Detroit forced 17 Phoenix turnovers, which resulted in 19 points for Detroit. Green Bay shot 52.7 percent overall, while holding the Titans to just 37.5 percent. But Detroit did make an amazing 38-of-42 opportunities from the charity stripe, while Green Bay made 14-of-19 free throws.

McCallum led the Titans with 26 points, six rebounds, four steals and two assists, while Calliste scored 20 points with three assists and a steal. Howard, Jr. scored 16 points, while Anderson added 12 and Nick Minnerath pitched in 10. Minnerath also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

Green Bay was led by Keifer Sykes who finished with 21 points, while Greg Mays scored a career-high 18 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, out-dunking Anderson by a 5-2 score. Alec Brown pitched in 16 points and seven rebounds, while Sultan Muhammad added 11.

Detroit will continue league play on Thursday, Jan. 10 when the Titans visit Youngstown State. Green Bay will host Loyola on Wednesday, Jan. 9.

Youngstown State 68, Loyola 66
Kendrick Perry’s running jumper with five seconds left lifted Youngstown State to a dramatic 68-66 come-from-behind win over Loyola on Saturday at Gentile Arena.

Youngstown State (9-6, 1-1 Horizon) trailed by as many as 14 points in second half was down 59-47 with 9:10 to play in the game before rallying for the road split.

Perry, who scored 18 points including 14 in the second half, drove the left side of the lane and laid a shot off the glass for the go-ahead bucket with five seconds left.

The dramatics were far from over, however, as after Loyola came across midcourt and took timeout with 1.5 seconds left, Damian Eargle was called for a foul in the post on the inbounds play, sending Ben Averkamp to the free-throw line for a one-and-one.

Averkamp, who had 18 points, missed the front end of the one-and-one, but the Ramblers retained possession with just 0.2 seconds left. The Ramblers' final tip-in attempt was no good.

With more than 14 minutes left in the second half, the Penguins, who shot 58.3 percent in the second half, trailed the Ramblers, 50-36, after a Joe Crisman 3-pointer.

Twice the Penguins trimmed the deficit down to seven but the Ramblers were able to recapture a 12-point advantage, 59-47, at the 9:10 mark after a 3-pointer and jumper by Cully Payne.

Over the next four minutes, the Penguins used an 11-2 run sparked by Kamren Belin’s three-pointer to cut the deficit down to three, 61-58, with 4:54 left. Perry started the run with a jumper and two free throws followed by Belin's triple and two layups by Eargle.

Loyola extended its advantage back to seven after a jumper by Payne and two free throws from Averkamp, 65-58, with 3:36 left.

The Penguins scored the next eight points capped by DJ Cole’s runner with 58 seconds left that gave YSU a 66-65 lead, its first since the 2:42 mark of the first half. Perry again started the 8-0 run with two free throws and Belin's jumper cut the Loyola lead to just three, 65-62, at the 2:40 mark.

A Perry jumper with 2:02 left go the Penguins 65-64, and a Loyola turnover set up Cole's shot.

In the first half, the Penguins were able to jump out to a 16-9 lead eight minutes into the game before the Ramblers knotted the score at 16-16 with 10:27 left before haltime.

Up 25-16, with 6:07 remaining in the first, Youngstown State saw the Ramblers use a 19-5 run over to close out the half with a five-point lead, 35-30.

Christian Thomas and Payne each finished with 11 points for Loyola, while Devon Turk came off the bench to add 10.

Eargle led YSU with 20 points and six blocks, while Belin contributed 13, going 3-of-5 from three-point range.

Wright State 53, Milwaukee 51
Wright State trailed most of the way, but changed the game with some late pressure to snare a 53-51 win over Milwaukee at the WSU Nutter Center.

Wright State (11-4, 2-0 Horizon) found itself trailing, 47-43, with 3:29 to play before Kendall Griffin’s three-point play drew the Raiders within a single point.

Following two Paris Gulley free throws, Jerran Young would grab an offensive rebound off a Griffin missed free throw and convert the layup to keep Wright State’s deficit at one, 49-48, with 2:45 to play.

After an ensuing Milwaukee (4-12, 0-2 Horizon) timeout, Wright State employed a full-court press, resulting in a Panthers turnover.

Cole Darling would give Wright State its first lead since halfway through the second half with a three, and after the press forced a second straight Milwaukee turnover, Griffin made two more free throws to extend the Raiders lead to 53-49 with 1:31 to play.

However, James Haarsma would knock down a pair of freebies to slice the deficit in half before Milwaukee sent Reggie Arceneaux to the line with 31 ticks remaining. Arceneaux would miss the pair, giving the Panthers one last chance to force overtime or collect its first League win.

On the set, Wright State forced Milwaukee to scramble, with Jordan Aaron driving and getting a good look at a tying jumper. Aaron’s shot hit the rim and backboard, but came off, sending Wright State fans home happy on a night the university honored its 1983 NCAA Division II national champions.

Arceneaux led all scorers with 15 points, while Darling shook off a nagging shoulder injury to finish with 14. The duo had Wright State’s four three-pointers as the team went a collective 4-of-18 from beyond the arc.

Demetrius Harris notched a double-double for Milwaukee with 14 points and 10 rebounds, going a perfect 5-for-5 from the field. Gulley added 13 and Aaron 12 for the Panthers, who were 14-of-41 from the field.