#MotorCityMadness Day 1 Recaps
2017 Little Caesars Horizon League Basketball Championships: Day 1 Recap
DETROIT – The opening round of the 2017 Little Caesars Horizon League Basketball Championships was a day for the underdogs as all four lower seeds advanced to the quarterfinal round. Saturday’s quarterfinals feature both the men’s and women’s top-two seeds against Friday’s winners. All games will air on ESPN3.
Gm. 1 (10) UIC 72, (7) Northern Kentucky 60 (women)
DETROIT | Brittany Byrd scored a game-high 16 points and No. 10 seed UIC scored 40 points in the paint as the Flames beat No. 7 Northern Kentucky 72-60 in a first round game of the Horizon League Women’s Basketball Championships on Friday.
UIC (6-24) will play No. 2 Wright State in a quarterfinal game at Joe Louis Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The Flames led for all but 86 seconds on Friday as UIC shot 54.2 percent (26-48) from the field and 44.4 percent (4-9) from the 3-point line. UIC took a 33-26 lead into halftime before taking complete control of the game in the third quarter where the Flames shot 75 percent (12-16) from the floor.
Gm. 2 (9) Valparaiso 79, (8) Youngstown State 62 (women)
DETROIT | Dani Franklin had 19 points and 11 rebounds and No. 9 Valparaiso scored a season high in points against a Division I opponent with a 79-62 win over No. 8 Youngstown State in the first round of the 2017 Horizon League Women’s Basketball Championships on Friday afternoon.
The Crusaders will play top-seeded Green Bay in quarterfinal action on Saturday morning.
Valparaiso grabbed a season-high 52 rebounds on Friday, including 22 offensive rebounds that led to 19 second chance points. The Crusaders dominated the interior, scoring 46 points in the paint as sophomore Amber Lindfors had 12 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks.
Gm. 3 (10) Milwaukee 85, (7) Detroit Mercy 60 (men)
DETROIT | Jeremiah Bell scored a career-high 31 points and No. 10 Milwaukee made history with an 85-60 win over No. 7 Detroit Mercy in the first round of the 2017 Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championships on Friday night.
The Panthers became the first No. 10 seed to win a game in Horizon League tournament history. In the previous seven seasons that the conference had 10 league members, the No. 10 seed lost all seven times by an average of more than 15 points per game.
Milwaukee will play No. 2 Valparaiso in quarterfinal action on Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena.
Gm. 4 (9) Youngstown State 84, Cleveland State 69 (men)
DETROIT | Matt Donlan scored 24 points and Braun Hartfield added a career-high 22 points as No. 9 Youngstown State beat No. 8 Cleveland State 84-69 to win its first Horizon League tournament game since 2013.
The Penguins will play top-seeded Oakland in quarterfinal action at the 2017 Little Caesars Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championships at Joe Louis Arena on Saturday night.
With Youngstown State clinging to a 67-65 lead with under four minutes remaining, Hartfield scored five straight points and Cameron Morse converted a 3-point play to stretch the lead back to 75-65 with 2:31 remaining. Hartfield and Morse helped jumpstart the Penguins on a 17-4 run to close out the game. Donlan added four free throws in the final 64 seconds to secure the victory.
