2013 Men's Basketball Championship Bracket
Men's Basketball Scoreboard (March 5)
No. 6 Youngstown State 62, No. 7 Loyola 60 - Highlights
No. 4 Green Bay 62, No. 9 Milwaukee 46 - Highlights
No. 5 UIC 82, No. 8 Cleveland State 59 - Highlights
INDIANAPOLIS -- The higher-seeded home teams won all three of the Horizon League Men's Basketball Tournament first round games on Tuesday night as No. 6 Youngstown State pulled out a buzzer-beating win over No. 7 Loyola before No. 4 Green Bay and No. 5 UIC cruised to wins over No. 9 Milwaukee and No. 8 Cleveland State, respectively.
No. 6 Youngstown State 62, No. 7 Loyola 60
The first game of the 2013 Horizon League Men's Basketball Tournament set the bar high as No. 6 Youngstown State and No. 7 Loyola battled to the final buzzer with the Penguins pulling out a two-point win on DJ Cole's jumper with three seconds left on the clock.
Loyola's Christian Thomas heaved a half-court prayer at the buzzer that could have won the game for the Ramblers but came up just short, and Youngstown State celebrated its hard-fought 62-60 win in front of the home crowd.
The Penguins won to advance to the second round at Valparaiso despite playing without First Team All-Horizon League guard Kendrick Perry, who missed his fourth-straight game with a knee injury. Including the game-winning shot, Cole scored 13 points for Youngstown State, which was led by Blake Allen and Kamren Belin with 15 apiece. Defensive Player of the Year Damian Eargle added 10 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks.
Thomas led the Ramblers with 16 points and grabbed six rebounds. Second Team All-Leaguer Ben Averkamp tossed in 14 points with nine rebounds and three assists and Jordan Hicks added 12 points and six boards.
YSU jumped out to a 12-4 lead shortly out of the first media timeout, but Loyola stormed back to pull within four with just over 11 minutes left in the first half. The Ramblers took their first lead of the game, 19-18, on an Averkamp jumper with 8:38 left before the break and the teams traded baskets the rest of the half.
With 43 seconds left, Thomas made a pair of free throws to put Loyola ahead by two, but Shawn Amiker tied the game with a layup 20 seconds later and the teams went into the locker room tied 29-29.
The basket-trading continued for the first few minutes of the second half before Loyola built a six-point lead, 40-34, punctuated by a jump shot by Averkamp with just under 16 minutes left to play. Youngstown State rallied, however, and tied the game and took the lead on back-to-back layups by Cole and never trailed after the sophomore put the Penguins ahead 45-43 with just over 11 minutes left.
Youngstown State will face No. 3 Wright State on Friday at 6 p.m. on HLN.
No. 4 Green Bay 62, No. 9 Milwaukee 46
In the first round's only regional rivalry, No. 4 Green Bay rode a big second half to an easy 62-46 win over No. 9 Milwaukee.
The Phoenix had jumped out to a seven-point lead nearly nine minutes into the game, but Milwaukee fought back with six straight scores, tying the game 18-18 on a Paris Gully layup and then taking a one-point lead with 5:15 remaining in the half on a free throw by Demetrius Harris.
Green Bay took the lead back, however, on a pair of Sultan Muhammed free throws, part of a 9-2 run to close out the half with a 27-21 lead. The Phoenix never trailed again in the ballgame and outscored their rivals 35-25 in the second half.
Second Team All-Horizon League forward Alec Brown led all scorers with 18 points for Green Bay and added six rebounds. First Team All-Leaguer Keifer Sykes added 16 points, six rebounds and five assists and All-Newcomer honoree Jordan Fouse filled up the stat sheet with 12 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and three blocks.
Milwaukee was led in scoring by senior guard Paris Gulley, who had 14 points to go with six rebounds and three assists. All-Newcomer honoree Jordan Aaron added 10 and five.
The Phoenix will face No. 5 UIC on Friday night at 8:30 on HLN.
No. 5 UIC 82, No. 8 Cleveland State 59
After winning 10 regular-season games at the Pavilion, No. 5 UIC took full advantage of its home court in an 82-59 win over No. 8 Cleveland State.
The Flames never trailed in the game, jumping out to a 30-4 lead at the 7:10 mark of the first half. Cleveland State rallied, going on a 24-14 run to close out the half, but the deficit was too much to overcome and the Vikings still trailed 44-30 at the half.
Cleveland State was only able to get as close as 12 points behind the Flames at the 16:21 mark in the second half when Charlie Lee hit a fast break 3-pointer, but UIC continued to pull away thereafter and cruised to an easy win.
UIC had five players score in double-figures, led by All-Newcomer honoree Josh Crittle's game-high 20 points. Crittle added six rebounds, three assists and two blocks to the stat sheet. Daniel Barnes added 16 points, eight rebounds, two steals and two blocks; Second Team All-Horizon League guard Gary Talton added 11 points and five assists; and Hayden Humes and Marc Brown both scored 10 points while Humes pulled down seven boards.
Lee led the Vikings with 17 points and two assists while Newcomer of the Year Bryn Forbes poured in 16 points. Their 33 combined points accounted for more than half of Cleveland State's total. While the Flames got 24 points from their bench players, the Vikings managed just six bench points.
UIC will face No. 4 Green Bay on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. on HLN.
