The Madness Begins as Home Teams Advance

2014 Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship Scoreboard (First Round):
(5) Milwaukee 83, (8) Detroit 73
(6) Oakland 96, (7) Youngstown State 92 (ot)
(4) Valparaiso 73, (9) UIC 63

In the first round of the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship, the host team of each first round game came out on top to advance to the second round.

(5) Milwaukee 83, (8) Detroit 73
The Titans second half run came up short as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team fell to No. 5 seeded Milwaukee, 83-73, in the first round of the Horizon League Tournament.

The Panthers (18-13) advance to a second round game against fourth-seeded Valparaiso Friday at 8:30 p.m. in Green Bay.

Detroit (13-19, 6-10 HL) trailed by as much as 21 in the second half, before using a 41-25 run to trim the lead to five, 78-73, with 2:21 left. But Milwaukee (18-13, 7-9 HL) made five-straight free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

Junior co-captain Juwan Howard, Jr. led Detroit with a game-high 21 points, six assists and two steals, while freshman guard Matthew Grant poured in 16 points and senior Evan Bruinsma added 14 points to go along with seven rebounds.

Jordan Aaron scored 16 points to lead five players in double figures for Milwaukee. Steve McWhorter added 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Panthers while Kyle Kelm had 13 points. Plus, Milwaukee's bench played a major role in the victory. Cody Wichmann scored 12 points while JeVon Lyle added 11 points. Malcolm Moore also provided an early spark with seven points and seven rebounds.

Detroit opened the game with a quick 7-4 run, before Milwaukee answered back to take a 12-9 lead with 13:33 left. The Titans then tied the score at 14 after a layup from Anton Wilson off a little give and go from Howard.  The Panthers then scored five-straight including a three-pointer from Jordan Aaron, but Grant answered back with a three of his own to make the score 19-17 with 10:27 left. Milwaukee sunk another three to go back up by five, before Bruinsma made a layup with 8:26 left to make the score 22-19. The Panthers then registered a 20-2 run over the next six minutes to double up the Titans 42-21. Detroit did close the half with a 7-0 run capped off by a Grant three-pointer at the buzzer, but still went into intermission trailing 42-28.

Milwaukee opened the second stanza with an 11-4 run and it looked like the Titans season was over. But like the true Titans that they are Detroit battled back with a 21-9 run, including six-straight points from Howard, to trim the lead to nine 62-53 with 9:34 left. After a quick 10-0 run from Milwaukee in just three possessions – including a five point play that included two free throws after a made three-pointer – Detroit didn't give up and responded with a 10-0 run of its own to make the score 72-63 with 5:28 left. After a jumper from Aaron put Milwaukee back up by 11, the Titans kept running and used a 10-4 run, capped off by a Bruinsma layup to make it a five-point game 78-73 with 2:21 remaining. Detroit had the chance on two possessions to get closer but came away empty and had to start fouling, which led to Panthers making five-straight to seal the win.

Both teams finished shooting 51 percent overall and 36 percent from downtown. The only difference was Milwaukee made nine from deep, while the Titans only connected on five. Both teams also shot well from the charity stripe as Detroit made 20-of-22 and Milwaukee hit 24-of-29. The Panthers did win the battle of the board 27-25, including a pair on the offensive glass late in the closing minute.

(6) Oakland 96, (7) Youngstown State 92 (ot)
Travis Bader drilled two free throws with 0.6 left in regulation, then hit another pair with 9 seconds left in overtime to allow No. 6-seeded Oakland to escape No. 7 Youngstown State, 96-92 in a Horizon League tournament opener Tuesday.

Oakland trailed by 10 with three minutes to play in regulation, but scored 10-straight points to pull even at 75 on three free throws by Bader. Youngstown State led by four with eight seconds left, but Bader drilled a 3 to make it 80-79, then fouled Ryan Weber with one second left, who missed the first of two free throws to make it 81-79.

Fletcher Larson fouled Bader on the in-bounds play and Bader forced the extra period.

Bader finished with 39 points and was a school and tournament record 18 of 18 from the line for Oakland (13-19). Dante Williams added 12 points on the bench, while Corey Petros tallied 17 points and nine rebounds for the Grizzlies.

Kendrick Perry scored 35 points and Ryan Weber added 22 to lead Youngstown State (15-17).

Oakland advances to face No. 3 seed Wright State on Friday night in Green Bay, Wis. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.

(4) Valparaiso 73, (9) UIC 63
The Valparaiso men’s basketball team defeated UIC 73-63 Tuesday evening at the ARC in the first round of the 2014 Horizon League Championship.  With the victory, the fourth-seeded Crusaders advance to Green Bay to face fifth-seeded Milwaukee Friday evening at 8:30 p.m.

Alec Peters was nearly perfect from the field on the night, with a missed 3-pointer in the first half serving as the only blemish on a 10-of-11 performance from the floor for the freshman.  Peters also knocked down seven free throws as well to finish with 29 points, just one shy of his career high, while also pulling down a team-high eight rebounds.  The rookie spread the scoring between the two periods, pouring in 14 first-half points before a 15-point effort in the second half.

A layup from senior Lavonte Dority off a steal with 9:29 to play pushed the Crusader lead back into double figures, as Valpo led 58-48.  But little did anybody know that would be the Crusaders’ final field goal of the night.  UIC reeled off an 8-1 run over the next three minutes, capped by a Jordan Harks layup which cut the lead to 59-56, the first time the game had been within one possession since before the midway point of the first half.

Valpo would hold the Flames to just two points over the next four minutes, however, allowing the Crusaders to extend their lead from the foul line.  Peters and Dority both went 3-of-4 from the charity stripe over that stretch, the latter pushing the lead back up to seven points at 65-58 with 5:06 to play.

Neither team would score for over two minutes, until a pair of free throws by the Flames with 2:30 to play made it 65-60.  The Crusaders couldn’t knock down a triple at the end of the shot clock on their next offensive possession, but forced a turnover on UIC’s end.  Then, on a missed jumper, it was the smallest player on the court, freshman Lexus Williams, who came up with an offensive rebound and was fouled with 55 seconds to play.  Williams would knock down both and UIC would get no closer than six points the rest of the way, as the Crusaders went 8-of-10 from the foul line in the final minute.

Peters keyed the Crusaders’ big first-half run, as Valpo extended a 15-13 lead into a 29-17 advantage with 7:13 to play in the opening period.  Peters scored 11 of the Crusaders’ 14 points during the run, including a pair of old-fashioned 3-point plays, while sophomore Keith Carter knocked down a big step-back 3-pointer during the run as well.

Valpo was able to push its lead up to as many as 15 points a couple times late in the first half, but UIC scored on each of its final two possessions to cut the Crusaders’ edge to 39-28 at the half.  The advantage hovered around the 10-point mark for the first 10 minutes of the second half, with Peters pushing it up to 14 points at 54-40 with 13:08 to go before a six-point spurt from the Flames helped set the stage for the final 10 minutes of play.

Dority was the only Crusader to join Peters in double figures, ending the night with 12 points.  Freshman Jubril Adekoya posted a well-rounded line with six points, six rebounds and four assists as well.  Dority led the way with three steals for Valpo, while junior Vashil Fernandez tallied three of the Crusaders’ six blocked shots.

Marc Brown led UIC (6-25) with 16 points, one of four Flames in double figures.  Jordan Harks ended with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Valpo limited UIC leading scorer Kelsey Barlow to just 2-of-15 shooting from the field in an 11-point, nine-rebound effort.

Valparaiso (18-14) advances to the second round of the league tournament in Green Bay on Friday evening, where the Crusaders will face Milwaukee at 8:30 p.m.