Valpo, Detroit Climb Standings

#HLMBB Scoreboard (Jan. 29)
Detroit 74, UIC 68
Valparaiso 75, #rv/-- Green Bay 60

Detroit and Valparaiso each climbed the Horizon League standings with home wins on Wednesday. For the Crusaders, a win over Green Bay snapped the Phoenix's 12-game winning streak and pushed Valpo into a tie for second place. The Titans jumped into a tie for seventh with their victory over UIC.

Detroit 74, UIC 68
Juwan Howard Jr. recorded his ninth 20 point performance of the season with a game-high 25 points as Detroit held off a game UIC squad, 74-68, at historic Calihan Hall.

Detroit (10-13, 3-5 Horizon) collected its second win in its last three games and its fourth straight over UIC dating back to Dec. 29, 2011.

The Titans broke open a 61-61 tie with back-to-back three-pointers from sophomore guard Anton Wilson to close the game with a 13-7 run.

Howard finished 10-of-18 from the field and 2-of-5 from the deep, while dishing out three assists, and two steals. Wilson scored 16, including nine of the Titans final 13 points, while senior co-captain Evan Bruinsma added 15 points to go along with nine rebounds. Senior center Ugochukwu Njoku grabbed a game and career-high 12 rebounds, while the freshman backcourt of Matthew Grant and Jarod Williams combined to score 12 points with five assists and three steals.

UIC (5-17, 0-8 Horizon) opened the game with an early 6-2 run, before the Titans responded with a 10-3 run including a three-pointer from Grant to take a 12-9 lead with 13:49 left. The Flames answered back with a 12-4 run to build their largest lead of the game 21-16, before Detroit closed the half with a 21-15 run, including another three-pointer from Grant, to take a 37-31 lead into intermission. Howard led all scorers with 12 points, while Bruinsma and Wilson added seven apiece.

Detroit was able to extend its lead to seven, 45-38, following a highlight dunk from Jermaine Lippert to start the second stanza, before the Flames answered back with a 14-5 run to take a 52-50 lead with 13:18 left in regulation. The Titans then pieced together an 11-2 run to build a 61-54 lead with 8:20 remaining. But the Flames were out as they bounced back a with a quick 7-0 run to tie the game for the ninth time, before back-to-back three-pointers from Wilson ignited the Detroit run to close the game.

Detroit shot 49 percent (28-of-57) overall and 40 percent (8-20) from downtown, while UIC finished shooting 42.4 percent (25-of-59) overall, including 28.6 percent (4-14) from beyond the arc. The Titans won the battle on the boards 35-33 and forced 11 turnovers with six steals, while dishing out 15 assists.

Marc Brown led UIC with a career-high 24 points, while Kelsey Barlow added 18 points and Jake Wiegand pitched in 13.

Valparaiso 75, #rv/-- Green Bay 60
With the Athletics-Recreation Center at a fevered pitch following the jersey retirement of Bruce Lindner and head coach Bryce Drew, Valparaiso channeled its energy into its finest effort of the conference season, knocking off visiting Green Bay, 75-60.

Valparaiso (13-10, 5-3 Horizon) trailed only once in the game in snapping Green Bay's (17-4, 7-1 Horizon) 12-game winning steak. LaVonte Dority finished with a game-high 26 points for the Crusaders, the fourth time in the last five games he has eclipsed 20.

Dority seemingly got into the lane at will to start the game, scoring 14 of Valparaiso's first 20 points. By the time Dority collected his 14th on a layup 7:16 into the game, the Crusaders had jumped out to a 20-9 lead.

The advantage would grow to as many as 18 in the first half before Green Bay whittled the deficit to 42-29 at the half.

The Phoenix would be aggressive early in the second half, but were undone by missed free throws. Failing to connect on 3-of-4 early free throws that could have brought Green Bay within single digits, the Phoenix instead saw Valparaiso go on a 14-0 run over the next 4:28.

Beginning with a Dority layup and capped by a jumper from the senior, the Crusaders extended their lead to 56-30. The closest margin the rest of the game would be the final score.

Green Bay played without the services of senior Alec Brown due to a sprained shoulder. Brown entered the evening averaging 16.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game.

Without Brown in the lineup, Valparaiso sagged off of Keifer Sykes and did not have to choose between Sykes and Brown on Green Bay's dangerous pick-and-roll. Sykes led Green Bay with 19 points and six assists, but was the lone Phoenix in double figures.

Valparaiso outrebounded Green Bay, 38-28, and shot 58.7-percent from the field, compared to 38.3-percent for the Phoenix. Going 5-of-6 from the floor, Jubril Adekoya joined Dority in double figures with 12 points.