Men’s Basketball Scoreboard (Jan. 23)
Valparaiso 74, Youngstown State 71
Valparaiso 74, Youngstown State 71
In a close game down the stretch, the Valparaiso men’s basketball team defeated Youngstown State 74-71 Thursday night at the Beeghly Center. The Crusaders were a perfect 8-for-8 from the foul line the final minute to pull out the conference victory over the Penguins.
The loss drops the Penguins to 12-9 on the campaign and 3-3 in the Horizon League. Valparaiso moves to 12-9 and 4-2.
Kamren Belin connected on a triple for the Penguins with 2:14 to play to erase a two-point Crusader lead and give YSU the advantage, but Valparaiso came back down and got a driving layup from sophomore Keith Carter to re-claim the lead at 66-65. Belin was then fouled on YSU’s next possession and hit two free throws, but senior Lavonte Dority answered by hitting both ends of a 1-and-1 with 55.8 seconds to play to make it 68-67 Crusaders.
After a timeout by each team, the Penguins missed a 3-pointer on their next possession and fifth-year senior Moussa Gueye closed out his strong night by securing the rebound and drawing a foul. Gueye calmly stepped up to the line and hit both free throws to push the lead to three points with 24.3 seconds remaining.
YSU split a pair on its next possession to make it 70-68 Valparaiso with 12.1 seconds to play, and following a timeout, the Crusaders were able to successfully run five seconds off the clock before Dority was fouled. The senior hit both free throws to make it a two-possession game.
Perry was able to drill an off-balance 3-pointer to pull the Penguins within 72-71 with 1.8 seconds left. Marcus Keene fouled Keith Carter before the inbounds pass and Carter sank both free throws for the final margin.
Bobby Hain had a team-high 16 points while Perry had 15, Weber finished with 14 and DJ Cole had 12. Dority finished with 27 points going 8-of-12 from the field and 8-of-8 from the free-throw line.
Dority continued his strong recent play with 27 points for the second straight game. The senior went 8-of-12 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from downtown, and was also a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line. Adekoya finished with 13 points, going 4-of-7 from the floor and 5-of-7 from the line, and Gueye closed in double figures for just the second time as a Crusader, scoring a career-best 11 points, including a perfect 5-of-5 mark from the stripe.
For the game, the Penguins shot 43.5 percent (20-of-46) while Valparaiso made 24-of-52 attempts (46.2 percent). The Crusaders had 12 offensive rebounds which led to a 14-2 margin in second chance points. From the free-throw line, the Penguins made 25-of-32 shots (78.1 percent). The Crusaders continued their strong free throw shooting of late, going 22-of-25 (88%) from the line, their third straight game over 80%.
In the first half, YSU's biggest lead was 34-23 with 1:04 left after Weber converted a four-point play. Weber knocked down a 3-pointer from the side and was fouled by Bobby Capobianco. Weber swished the free-throw to convert the four-point play.
The Penguins shot 47.8 percent (11-of-23) while Valparaiso made just nine of 26 shots (34.6 percent). Eleven Crusader turnovers were key in the Penguins taking their nine-point advantage to the locker room.
Valparaiso came out and scored 20 of the first 26 points in the second half to go on top 47-42 at the 13:08 mark. YSU answered by scoring eight straight points to grab a 50-47 advantage with 9:28 left on a Perry free throw.
The Penguins held the lead until 3:28 was left in the contest. The game featured 12 ties and 12 lead changes, the last of which came in the final minute.
The Penguins wrap up a four-game homestand against Wright State on Saturday night. Tipoff is set for 7:05 p.m. following the YSU women's basketball game against Oakland.
Valparaiso (12-9, 4-2 Horizon) looks for the rare Horizon League road trip sweep on Saturday afternoon at Cleveland State. Tipoff is slated for 1 p.m. CT, the game can be seen live on the Horizon League Network and heard live on the Valpo Sports Radio Network.
Tags: Valparaiso - Men's Basketball · Youngstown State - Men's Basketball
