Horizon League Men's Basketball Scoreboard (Dec. 4)
Valparaiso 69, Ball State 50
Toledo 91, Detroit 75
Drexel 85, Cleveland State 82 (3OT)
Youngstown State 84, Robert Morris 76
SMU 73, UIC 65
Valparaiso 69, Ball State 50
The Valparaiso men’s basketball team outshot Ball State from the floor Wednesday evening as the Crusaders won in Muncie for the first time since 1967 with a 69-50 final. The win was the Crusaders’ first road victory of the season as well.
A slow start both ways saw the Crusaders extend a 9-6 lead seven minutes in with eight straight points over the next 3:30. Freshman Clay Yeo scored baskets on back-to-back possessions, the second a fast-break finish, to start the run. Then two minutes later, fellow freshman Alec Peters got a putback basket and rookie Lexus Williams followed on the next trip with a driving layup to make it 17-6 with 9:31 left in the first half.
The Cardinals responded with a 14-2 run over the next four-plus minutes to take the lead at 20-19 with 5:16 remaining in the opening period. A layup by Zavier Turner at the 8:12 mark was Ball State’s first in nearly seven minutes, while the run culminated with a Jesse Berry fast-break 3-pointer which put the Cardinals ahead for the first time.
While neither team would score for the next 90 seconds, it would be Valpo who closed the first half on a run to take the lead into the locker room. It started with a triple from Williams, followed on the next possession by another Peters second-chance bucket. Williams found freshman Jubril Adekoya) on the break for the first of consecutive baskets from Adekoya, the second of which made it an eight-point game. A 3-pointer by senior LaVonte Dority on the Crusaders’ final first-half possession capped the 12-0 run to end the half, as Valpo took a 31-20 lead into the locker room.
Ball State scored the first point of the second half on a free throw, but 10 points was as close as the Cardinals would get in the second half, as Dority hit a triple the first time Valpo had the ball. Williams had a pair of early second-half baskets to help push the lead to 17, while the lead hit 20 points for the first time on a driving layup from Yeo with 11 minutes to go and Valpo leading 49-29. The Crusaders’ lead eventually reached 21 (56-35) with 6:12 to go on a basket by Adekoya, and while Ball State scored the next seven points, Valpo would not allow the Cardinals to close the gap to less than 14 in the closing stretch.
A balanced effort on Wednesday was led by Dority, who finished with 16 points, including a trio of 3-pointers. Adekoya set a new career best with 12 points, hitting 5-of-6 from the floor, and also pulled down a game-high eight rebounds. Williams, Yeo and senior Jordan Coleman all finished with nine points as well, the latter chipping in seven rebounds. Peters handed out a game-high four assists, while fifth-year senior Moussa Gueye blocked three shots. Valpo ended the night shooting 48.2% (27-of-56) from the floor, including a 59.1% mark in the second half, and out-rebounded the Cardinals, 44-37.
Ball State (2-5) got a team-best 11 points from Mark Alstork, while Jesse Berry added 10 points in the losing effort. The Crusaders limited Zavier Turner, the Cardinals’ leading scorer, to just nine points on 2-of-9 shooting and held Majok Majok, who entered the game averaging nearly a double-double, to just five points and five rebounds. Ball State shot just 14-of-52 (26.9%) from the floor for the game.
Toledo 91, Detroit 75
TOLEDO– In a rematch of a an exciting game between Detroit and Toledo on Nov. 23, the Rockets hot shooting that stole the show as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team fell to UT, 91-75, on Wednesday night at Savage Arena.
Senior Evan Bruinsma led the way with his second double-double of the season tallying 25 points and 14 rebounds as well as three blocks and three steals. He was 10-of-15 from the field, including 8-of-11 in the first half where he netted 20 points.
Freshman Matthew Grant added 10 points and four assists and junior Juwan Howard Jr., had nine points and a pair of steals.
Toledo (6-0) shot 52.7% on the night, including 12-of-21 from behind the arc. UT's Rian Pearson led the Rockets with a game-high 30 points.
The Titans had a hard time stopping Toledo right from the start as the Rockets scored six straight to start the contest. After Detroit got on the board with back-to-back layups from Bruinsma to make it 6-4, UT went on a 17-5 run to jump out in front, 23-5, with 11:11 remaining in the first half.
UDM would peck away at the Toledo lead and get the deficit down to 10, 26-15, but the home team was able to keep the offense in hear gear and take a 56-39 lead at the break despite 20 points from Bruinsma.
Detroit shot 43.8% from the field in the first 20 minutes and was 6-of-12 from behind the arc, but the Rockets were 19-of-30 (63.3%) and 8-of-13 (61.5%) from three-point range.
The red, white and blue never showed any signs of quit in the second half, but Detroit was just not able to cut the Toledo lead under 10. Senior Jermaine Lippert got Detroit within 12, 71-59, with a layup at the 12:42 mark and later on, Howard was able to make it 74-61 connecting on a jumper with 10 minutes left in the contest.
Later on, a steal by freshman Jarod Williams led to sophomore Carlton Brundidge's layup and an 84-71 deficit with four minutes left on the clock. A jumper by Grant also made it a 13-point game, 86-73, with 3:12 left, but that was as close as UDM would get.
Williams ended the game with six points and three assists, while senior Ugochukwu Njoku had six points and seven boards.
Drexel 85, Cleveland State 82 (3OT)
PHILADELPHIA, Pa – Jon Harris scored a career-high 27 points and Bryn Forbes scored 23, but Cleveland State fell in three overtimes, 85-82, at Drexel on Wednesday night.
Harris, whose previous career-high was 21 points last season against Akron while he was at Miami (OH), hit 8-of-12 from the field, including 4-of-7 from three-point. He added six rebounds. Forbes tallied his fifth 20-point game of the season and ninth of his career.
Trey Lewis finished with 15 points and eight assists, while Anton Grady added six points and nine rebounds.
The Vikings fell to 4-4 this year, while Drexel, playing its second straight triple overtime game, improved to 5-2 and won its home opener.
Trailing 30-20 at halftime, the Vikings used 18 second half points from Harris and 12 from Forbes to rally and send the game into overtime.
The Dragons had a chance to win the game in regulation after Lewis split a pair of free throws to tie it at 58-58 with eight seconds left, but a runner in the lane by Frantz Massenat was off the mark.
Drexel took a six point lead (65-59) with two minutes left in the first overtime period, but a Lewis three-pointer and free throw by Harris brought the Vikings back within two points (65-63) with 1:21 to go. After a Drexel free throw, Forbes nailed a three-pointer to tie it at 66-66 and Massenat missed a three-pointer at the buzzer which would have won it for Drexel.
CSU assumed a four point lead in the second overtime period on two Lewis free throws with two minutes left, but Drexel cut the deficit to one (72-71) on a bucket and free throw. CSU missed a shot with 25 seconds to left, but Drexel knocked the ball out of bounds, keeping it with the Vikings. But a turnover and foul on CSU sent Massenat to the line where he split the pair with four seconds left, sending it into a third overtime.
It was CSU's first three overtime game since the 1993-94 season, when the Vikings went four overtimes with Kent State.
The teams traded baskets early, and a Forbes free throw gave the Vikings a 78-77 lead with 3:06 to play. But a 6-1 spurt by the Dragons gave Drexel an 83-79 lead with 16 seconds left.
Harris hit a 30-footer with eight seconds left to bring CSU back within one, but Massenat made both free throws on the other end to extend the lead back to three and Harris' desperation long three-pointer was off the mark at the buzzer.
Drexel took an early 7-4 lead, but buckets by Marlin Mason and Anton Grady gave the Vikings a one point lead (8-7) five minutes in. The Dragons responded by scoring eight of the next nine points to open up a six point advantage (15-9), but a Harris tip-in and two straight buckets by Sebastian Douglas evened the contest at 15-15 with 7:33 left in the half.
However, a 15-5 run by Drexel to close the half gave them a 30-20 lead at the intermission.
It was just the second time all season that CSU trailed at the half, the other time coming in the season opener against Iona.
The Vikings shot just 9-of-25 (.360) from the floor in the first half, but finished shooting 50-percent (29-58), including 10-of-21 (.476) from three-point.
Drexel shot 28-of-66 (.424) from the floor and held a 42-34 advantage on the glass. The Dragons also scored 42 points in the paint.
Youngstown State 84, Robert Morris 76
The Youngstown State men's basketball team played a solid 40 minutes in an 84-76 win over Robert Morris on Wednesday night at the Beeghly Center. It was YSU's first win over RMU since 2001.
Kendrick Perry and DJ Cole led the way for the Penguins who are 7-3 following the victory over the Colonials (3-6). Perry and Cole combined for 48 points and were 16-of-25 from the field. Cole, who had a career-high 19 points, also finished six rebounds, tying for team-high honors. Perry scored 27 points and had eight assists in the contest. Cole added six assists.
The Penguins shot 52.5 percent (31-of-59) while RMU hit a 50-percent clip (27-of-54). YSU had one turnover the first 35 minutes and had just three in the contest. The Guins were credited with 23 assists on 31 made field goals.
The first 13 minutes featured six lead changes and five ties. The last tie of the night was at 27-27 on a basket by RMU's Jeremiah Worthem.
From that point, Cole connected on a 3-pointer and Weber hit a trey on a fastbreak 32 seconds later. The Colonials trimmed the deficit to a pair on a layup by Anthony Myers-Pate with 2:22 left before halftime, but YSU pushed its advantage up to 44-37 on a 3-pointer by Perry with 25 seconds left. At halftime the Guins led 44-39.
Perry had 17 points in the opening half and was 7-of-11 from the field. YSU shot 53.1 percent for the first half. Lucky Jones had 11 in the opening half for RMU.
In the second half, YSU built a 63-49 lead just over 10 minutes into the stanza. The Penguins extended the lead to 16 with 6:03 remaining following a Cole layup.
YSU seemed to be on cruise control, but with 1:03 left the Colonials made it a two-possession game at 81-75 on two free throws by Karvel Anderson.
With 32.1 seconds left, Perry split a pair of free throws making the first and missing the second. On the second, he beat four RMU players to the ball did some impressive dribbling to milk the clock. Kamren Belin was fouled with 16.1 ticks left and knocked down two free throws to extend the lead to nine and steal the victory.
Belin finished with 14 points and Ryan Weber chipped in 12 points and six rebounds.
SMU 73, UIC 65
CHICAGO – The UIC men’s basketball team (3-5) came back from a 12-0 deficit to tie the contest at 41-41 in the second half but SMU (8-2) pulled away for a 73-65 win Wednesday night (Dec. 4) inside the UIC Pavilion. Senior Kelsey Barlow scored a game-high 31 points, his second consecutive contest with over 30 points.
Barlow was 8-of-18 from the field, including 3-of-9 from beyond the arc, and 12-of-15 from the free throw line. Barlow, who played all 40 minutes, scored 17 points in the second half.
UIC trailed 33-31 at half after allowing SMU to score the first 12 points of the contest. Jordan Harks’ layup with 16:53 left in the second half tied the score at 41-41 and a Barlow layup with 7:19 remaining cut the Mustang lead to 57-54. SMU hit four field goals and eight free throws to seal the victory.
Tags: Cleveland State - Men's Basketball · Detroit Mercy - Men's Basketball · UIC - Men's Basketball · Valparaiso - Men's Basketball · Youngstown State - Men's Basketball
