Standings Continue to Bunch after Saturday

Horizon League Men's Basketball Scoreboard (Jan. 21)
Detroit 69, Wright State 53
Butler 63, Loyola 57
Valparaiso 60, UIC 55

Each team hitting the halfway point of the Horizon League men's basketball season, Valparaiso edged narrowly ahead of the field, while Butler kept pace and Detroit continued to climb the Leadgue standings on Saturday afternoon.

Detroit 69, Wright State 53
Before a homecoming crowd, Detroit breezed past a depleted Wright State squad, 69-53, at Calihan Hall.

Detroit (10-11, 4-5 Horizon) moved into a tie for sixth in the Horizon League with Wright State (9-12, 4-5 Horizon), who dropped its third straight game.

Four Titans scored in double figures, led by 16 from senior Chase Simon as the Titans shot 60 percent from the field in the opening half and built a 38-25 lead at the break and never looked back. The opening period featured six three-pointers from Detroit and sophomore Ray McCallum had 11 points before heading to the locker room at halftime.

With the score 14-12 in favor of Detroit, the Titans embarked on a 15-4 run, holding the Raiders to just one field goal in an almost eight-minute stretch. Jason Calliste’s triple to close the half gave Detroit six treys in the first 20 minutes as the Titans finished the game with a season-high-tying nine from downtown.

Detroit then held the Raiders to a single field goal over an 8:20 period as the home team's lead ballooned to 18.  That lead would crest at a robust 25 points in the final minutes with the Detroit bench contributing in a major fashion. Sophomore Evan Bruinsma scored eight of nine Detroit points during one stretch and combined with senior Eli Holman to go 6-for-6 from the field for 17 points, four rebounds and four blocks.

Wright State, playing without leading scorer Julian Mays due to injury, had to spread out the scoring load.  Cole Darling paced the Raiders with 10 points while Johann Mpondo and Reggie Arceneaux each added nine.

Simon had four of Detroit's triples. Calliste tallied a dozen points while McCallum added 13, matching Doug Anderson for the team lead with six boards apiece.

Butler 63, Loyola 57
In a game in which both teams’ offenses struggled for stretches, Butler made enough plays down the stretch, holding off Loyola, 63-57, before a capacity crowd at Gentile Arena.

Butler (12-9, 6-3 Horizon) stayed within game of the Horizon League lead as the season hits its halfway point. Loyola (5-14, 0-9 Horizon) dropped its sixth straight game.

Leading by a 25-23 margin at the half, Butler faced a spirited Loyola surge out of the break, as a three by Joe Crisman and layup from Jonathan Gac brought the crowd of 4,347 to its feet. However, the Ramblers could not get over the hump and take a lead, and eventually, Butler found looks against Loyola’s 1-3-1 pressure.

Butler's game-changing 12-5 spurt was book-ended by three-pointers from Chase Stigall, helping the Bulldogs grab a 42-34 lead with 7:48 remaining. However, the Ramblers would draw within three after a three-pointer by Jordan Hicks and a runner from Walt Gibler.

The Bulldogs would answer once more, as Ronald Nored and Khyle Marshall took over down the stretch. Marshall scored all 14 of his points in the second half, including seven after Gibler brought the Ramblers within 48-45.

Marshall’s alley-oop from Nored gave Butler a 55-50 lead with 1:50 to play, and a defensive stop sent the Bulldogs to the free-throw line down the stretch, where Nored and Chrishawn Hopkins went 8-for-8 in the final minute of play.

Nored’s 16 points were a game high, while his nine assists set a new career best. Andrew Smith notched a 12-point, 13-rebound double-double, joining Nored and Marshall in double figures.

Gibler and Crisman each finished with 14 for the Ramblers.

Valparaiso 60, UIC 55
In a game that saw 15 ties and eight lead changes, Ryan Broekhoff scored six points in the game’s decisive 10-0 run as Valparaiso hung on for a 60-55 win at the UIC Pavilion.

Valparaiso (14-7, 7-2 Horizon) moved a half-game ahead of Cleveland State and Milwaukee for first place in the Horizon League; the Vikings and Panthers play at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, live on the Horizon League Network.

UIC (6-13, 2-7 Horizon) played its ninth game of the year decided by five points or less, falling to 3-6 in those contests. The Flames held a 41-40 lead after a three-point play from Gary Talton, but lost control midway through the second half.

Following a Paris Carter layup, Kevin Van Wijk and Broekhoff scored the next 10 points, with Van Wijk giving Valpo a 46-43 advantage with layups on consecutive possessions. Broekhoff would then take over, driving for a layup to extend the lead to five before capping the spurt with a second layup and fastbreak dunk, extending the Crusaders’ lead to 52-43 and forcing Howard Moore into a timeout with 6:53 remaining.

The Flames would rally late, via the three-pointer; Hayden Humes would knock down a triple to draw UIC within 55-50, and Marc Brown followed with another three to close the gap to 55-53 with 1:01 to play.

However, Valpo would corral an offensive board with 37 seconds to play, forcing UIC to foul in the closing seconds. Jay Harris would knock down a pair of free throws to double the advantage, and Matt Kenney knocked down to more after a Talton layup to create the game’s final margin.

Van Wijk entered the game eighth in the country in field-goal percentage, hitting 62 percent of his attempts; the junior went 8-of-14 versus UIC, finishing with a game-high 20 points. Broekhoff added 12, while Harris came off the bench to post 13.

Talton paced UIC with 12 points, while Humes and Carter each added 11.