Valparaiso to Face Maryland in NCAA Tournament

Valparaiso, making its second NCAA Tournament appearance in the last three seasons, will meet fourth-seed Maryland in the second round of the tournament in Columbus, Ohio on Friday, March 20.

Game times for Thursday and Friday will be announced late Sunday night.

This marks Valparaiso's ninth NCAA Tournament appearance and second carrying the Horizon League banner. In 2013, the Crusaders were a 14-seed and fell to third-seed Michigan State in the second round, 65-54. Valpo has an all-time NCAA Tournament record of 2-8.

Valparaiso won the Horizon League regular season with a 13-3 record and secured the conference's automatic bid with a 54-44 win over Green Bay in the championship game on Tuesday night.

Valpo is led by sophomore All-League First-Team selection Alec Peters. Peters led the Crusaders in scoring (16.7 ppg) and rebounding (6.8) in the regular season. The Washington, Ill., native scored 22 points in Valpo's HL semifinal tournament win over Cleveland State on Saturday night on his way to being named the Tournament MVP. Senior center Vashil Fernandez was named the conference's Defensive Player of the Year after pacing the League with 98 blocked shots.