Valparaiso, Butler Make Statements with Road Wins

Men’s Basketball Scoreboard (Feb. 9)
Valparaiso 59, Cleveland State 41
Butler 68, Youngstown State 59

Valparaiso and Butler both climbed the Horizon League ladder the hard way: on the road. Both teams made statements, collecting key tie-breakers en route to Thursday night victories.

Valparaiso 59, Cleveland State 41
Entering Thursday night as one of the nation’s top shooting teams inside the three-point arc, Valparaiso was lights out from beyond the arc, knocking down 11 three-pointers as the Crusaders routed Cleveland State, 59-41, at the Wolstein Center.

Valparaiso (18-8, 11-3 Horizon) took the air out of a packed Wolstein Center from the tip, as Ryan Broekhoff scored the first 11 points of the game for the Crusaders, racing out to a 14-1 lead. As Cleveland State focused its attention on the Aussie, his teammate from across the Tasman Sea took charge, as Richie Edwards scored the next nine points, helping Valparaiso extend its lead to 22-4 halfway through the firsthalf.

Cleveland State (20-5, 10-3 Horizon) entered the night ranked 15^th nationally in three-point field goal defense, but could never slow Valparaiso down as the Crusaders went 7-for-13 in the first half and 11-of-22 in the game.

The only blemish for the Crusaders occurred midway through the first half, when Kevin Van Wijk was rolled up on during a scramble for a loose ball. The junior, Valpo’s leader in the post, walked off the court without putting weight on his right leg, leaving his availability for Saturday’s game at Youngstown State in question.

Without Van Wijk, Cleveland State attempted to rally, drawing within 29-17 at the half and taking momentum into the locker room.

However, Broekhoff, Will Bogan and Edwards opened the half with a two threes and a three-point play on consecutive possessions, pushing the advantage back to 19, 38-19.  Valparaiso would see its lead to grow to as much as 21 before two Marlin Mason free throws brought Cleveland State within 45-32 with 7:43 showing.

Two possessions later, however, Jeremy Montgomery would miss a step-back three, with Broekhoff sweeping under the basket to collect the rebound. Coming in transition with a full head of steam, the Aussie went unchecked to the basket, with his dunk over Montgomery effectively sealing the result with 5:41 left.

Despite nationalities that make them competitors in every sense, Broekhoff and Edwards shared the load for Valparaiso, with Broekhoff backing up his potential player of the year credentials with 24 points and 10 rebounds, his League-best ninth double-double of the season. Edwards recorded 20 points off the bench, with the Tasman Tandem accounting for 75 percent of the Crusaders’ points.

Cleveland State was led by Montgomery’s 15, but shot 25.9 percent on the night; D’Aundray Brown attempted to go for the Vikings, but played just eight minutes due to a lingering groin injury.

With the win, Valparaiso moved to the top of the Horizon League standings with four games left on its conference schedule; the victory gives the Crusaders a key tie-breaker over Cleveland State due to their sweep of the Vikings in the regular season.

Butler 68, Youngstown State 59
Leading by 14 points early in the second half, Butler made the plays down the stretch to hold off Youngstown State, 68-59, at the Beeghly Center.

Butler (14-12, 8-6 Horizon) collected a sweep of Youngstown State (13-11, 8-6 Horizon), giving the Bulldogs a potentially key tie-breaker as each team has four conference games remaining.

Up 35-25 at the half, Butler owned a 40-26 advantage just 1:48 into the second half, but went cold from the floor, as the Penguins held the Bulldogs without a field goal for over seven minutes. In that span, Youngstown State was able to trim its deficit to four points on several occasions, but could not get over the hump.

At each turn, the Bulldogs found a timely response from one of their underclassmen. After Kendrick Perry’s layup prompted a timeout with Butler holding a 40-36 lead, the Bulldogs turned to sophomore Chrishawn Hopkins, who knocked down a jumper from the elbow to push the margin back to six.

Josh Chojnacki would answer for the Penguins, but this time it was freshman Roosevelt Jones who corralled an offensive board and converted the putback to make it a 44-38 game with 10:20 left. Once again, YSU would come back, with a Damian Eargle jumper slicing the deficit to four; however, freshman Jackson Aldridge drilled a three from the right wing to push the lead back to 47-40.

Perry would respond with a three of his own, but Hopkins split a pair of free throws and freshman Kameron Woods hit a hook to restore the seven-point cushion with 7:07 to play. Youngstown State would draw no closer than six points the rest of the way as Hopkin scored five straights points over a 57-second span to give the Bulldogs a 59-47 lead with 4:00 on the clock.

Youngstown led 12-11 at the 12:22 mark of the first half before the Aldridge helped Butler score 10 of the game’s next 12 points, converting a layup and jumper in traffic to put the Bulldogs ahead, 21-14.

The Penguins stemmed the tide briefly as Blake Allen knocked down a triple pulling them within 21-17. Another three, this one from Ashen Ward, brought YSU within 23-20, but Butler closed the half on a 13-5 spurt, with Aldridge draining two threes in the stretch.

Butler’s underclassmen recorded 49 of the team’s 68 points, with Hopkins leading the way with 19. Aldridge collected 15, while Jones finished a rebound shy of a double-double with 11 points and nine boards. Senior Ronald Nored grabbed a career-best 11 rebounds, adding eight points and six assists.

Perry, coming off a week in which he averaged 25.7 ppg, had a game-high 23 for the Penguins. Eargle chipped in 11 and Ward 10 for Youngstown State, who converted on just 3 of its 17 attempts from three-point range.