Oakland, Valpo and WSU Win on Monday Night

#HLMBB Scoreboard (Jan. 26)
Oakland 59, Cleveland State 56
Valparaiso 73, Milwaukee 48
Wright State 64, Detroit 53

Oakland 59, Cleveland State 56
Kahlil Felder scored four of his 16 points in the final 33 seconds to help Oakland beat Cleveland State 59-56 after blowing an 11-point halftime lead on Monday night.

A 7-0 run gave Cleveland State (12-10, 6-2 Horizon League) a 56-55 lead with 43 seconds to play.

Felder hit a jumper 10 seconds later and, after Jalen Hayes blocked a jumper by Lewis on the other end, Felder made two free throws to complete the scoring.

Trey Lewis missed a potential tying 3 with three seconds to go.

Oakland (9-12, 4-2) shot just 39.5 percent from the field, but made 21 of 28 free throws, including 9 of 10 from Felder.

Hayes scored 15 and Corey Petros had 14 points and nine rebounds in the win.

Kaza Keane scored a career-high 16 points and Anton Grady notched his fourth straight double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds for Cleveland State. Grady posted his 15th career double-double and his fifth in league play, adding five steals, four assists and three blocked shots.

Valparaiso 73, Milwaukee 48
Valparaiso got off to such a hot start offensively on Monday evening against Milwaukee in Horizon League action that the Crusaders were even scoring points during media timeouts.  Valpo opened the game with 15 points inside the first five minutes of play and went on to a 73-48 victory over the Panthers to improve to 19-4 on the season.

A 3-pointer by freshman Tevonn Walker (Montreal, Quebec/Vanier College) got things going on the Crusaders’ first possession Monday, and on their next trip, sophomore Alec Peters (Washington, Ill./Washington) grabbed an offensive rebound and stuck it back home for a putback basket.  The next time down the floor, Peters found himself covered up in the corner with the shot clock winding down, but it was no problem for the sophomore, as his heave towards the rim found the basket.  The bucket was originally ruled a two-point field goal, but changed to a triple upon further review at the first media stoppage.

Walker drained his second triple of the game on Valpo’s next possession and then came up with a steal on the defensive end, converting two free throws at the other end after being fouled on the break.  Two possessions later, junior Darien Walker (Chicago, Ill./Simeon [John A. Logan/Arizona Western]) drove the lane for a basket as the Crusaders led 15-3 just 4:44 into the ballgame.

Valpo’s game-opening run continued a couple minutes later, as the Crusaders continued their lockdown defense, on an off-balance scoop shot with the shot clock nearing zero by freshman David Skara (Zadar, Croatia/Ekonomska Skola Zadar).  Peters finished in the paint on Valpo’s next possession to make it 19-3 Crusaders with 12:57 to play in the first half.

Milwaukee’s Steve McWhorter scored for the Panthers on their next possession, but Valpo would then hold Milwaukee scoreless for the next 6:48.  Over that stretch, Skara and Peters scored four points apiece for the Crusaders, while Darien Walker added a 3-pointer, as Valpo pushed its lead to 30-5 with 5:46 left in the first half.  The Crusaders would eventually carry a 39-16 advantage into the halftime break.

Valpo made sure the Panthers would not threaten in the second half, answering each time Milwaukee cut the lead to 20 in the final period.  Matt Tiby knocked down a pair of free throws to bring the Panthers within 55-35 with 11:12 remaining, but the Crusaders went on a 12-1 run – including six points from Peters – over the next 4:48 to ice the game.

Peters paced the Crusaders on Monday, needing just 24 minutes to score 24 points as he finished the night 10-of-14 from the floor.  The sophomore added a team-high six rebounds as well.  Skara enjoyed his best game of the season against a Division I opponent, going 4-of-5 from the field and 5-of-5 from the foul line for 14 points and adding three rebounds.  Tevonn Walker chipped in 10 points and recorded three steals.

While the Crusaders couldn’t maintain their torrid early pace all game, they still finished the night hitting at a solid 56.3% (27-of-48) clip from the floor and were 6-of-10 from the 3-point line.  Valpo also posted its best game of the season from the foul line, going 13-of-15 (86.7%).  The Crusaders out-rebounded Milwaukee by a 29-23 margin and committed just nine turnovers.

Milwaukee (7-14, 2-5 Horizon) was led by 15 points from Tiby, while McWhorter finished with 12 points and five assists.  Justin Jordan added 11 points as well in the losing effort.  The Crusaders limited the Panthers to just 38.3% (18-of-47) shooting from the field and just 1-of-17 from behind the 3-point stripe.

Wright State 64, Detroit 53
The Wright State men's basketball team scored the first eight points of the game and led wire to wire in defeating Detroit 64-53 in Horizon League action Monday night at Calihan Hall.

Threes by Kendall Griffin and Chrishawn Hopkins helped the Raiders get off to that 8-0 start and a Justin Mitchell jumper made it 12-2 five minutes into the contest.

Detroit cut the deficit to three with an 8-1 run, only to see WSU answer with a 17-3 burst over a six-minute span, a run that including three Grant Benzinger three-pointers and six points from Michael Karena, to go up 30-13 with 6:17 remaining in the first half.

Back came the Titans, however, as they scored 14 of the final 17 points of the period to trail by just six at the halftime break at 33-27.

The Raiders shot 52 percent in the opening 20 minutes, including six of 13 three-pointers, while Detroit shot 43 percent, four of nine from behind the arc.

A Chris Jenkins three made a three-point game early in the second half before Wright State pushed the lead back into double figures with a 12-2 run, a run that featured threes by Reggie Arceneaux and Benzinger.

The Titans would get no closer than eight the rest of the way as WSU shot 46 percent for the game overall, including an 11 of 29 performance from three-point range.  UDM, meanwhile, shot 40 percent for the game and was seven of 18 from three.

Griffin led the Raiders with 20 points, 13 in the second half, while Benzinger added 18 off the bench, 12 coming in the first half.

Anton Wilson led Detroit with 15 points. Paris Bass had seven points and a pair of blocks and Youssoupha Kane added six points, five rebounds and three steals.