INDIANAPOLIS -- With three Horizon League teams participating in tournament play on Friday, both Valparaiso and Detroit emerged with victories on the evening.
After two games on campus sites as part of the Las Vegas Invitational, Valparaiso finally made its trip to Orleans Arena, knocking off Northern Colorado, 76-61. The Crusaders trailed by six points at the half, but knocked down 9-of-11 three pointers in the game's final 20 minutes to prevail.
Howard Little and Ryan Broekhoff led the way for Valpo, as little nearly posted a career high, finishing with 18 points, while Broekhoff had 15.
The big second half was a complete turnaround from the first half, as the Crusaders struggled to find the basket in the first half, connecting on just 6-of-26 attempts from the field, including a 1-for-11 effort from three-point range.
In the second half, though, the three-point barrage helped spur a 50-point stanza, as Valpo hit on 15-of-23 attempts and added an 11-for-12 effort from the free-throw line. Defensively, the Crusaders held the Bears to just 29 second-half points and forced 11 turnovers.
N'Gai Evans made his return to the Wright State lineup, leading the Raiders with 24 points, but a 17-5 Richmond run to close the game dealt Wright State a 71-61 defeat in the semifinals of the Chicago Invitational Challenge. Vaughn Duggins added 19 points, while Troy Tabler finished with 11.
Down early, Wright State fought back to take a 38-36 lead into the half, as Evans scored 13 of his 24 points in the first 20 minutes, hitting 6-of-8 field goals. The Raiders were able to keep Richmond at bay for most of the second half, but three late threes got the Spiders rolling and prevented the Raiders from advancing to the tournament championship.
Playing its first of three games in as many days, Detroit played two extra frames but emerged with an 84-82 win over Albany in the subregional of the Legends Classic. Eli Holman posted a career-high 27 points and finished with his third double-double of the season, collecting 15 rebounds.
The Titans led by three points at both the end of regulation and the first overtime, and in each case, Albany hit three-pointers as the clock hit zero to force an extra session.
Holman and three other Titans reached double figures on the night. Chase Simon came up with 19 points and eight boards, while Nick Minnerath added 13 points. Donavan Foster came off the bench to score 10 points down the stretch to help the Titans improve to 2-3 on the young season.
