Men's Basketball Scoreboard (Nov. 30)
Valparaiso 70, Portland 55
Bowling Green 64, Detroit 63
Valparaiso 70, Portland 55
The Valparaiso men’s basketball team left no doubt as to what team would leave Nashville with the championship trophy from the inaugural Challenge in Music City, racing out to a 22-point halftime lead over previously unbeaten Portland Sunday afternoon en route to a 70-55 victory to close out a statement weekend.
Leading the way in the winning effort was tournament Most Valuable Player Alec Peters (Washington, Ill./Washington). Peters nearly single-handedly outscored the Pilots in the first half, capping a 15-point period with a 3-pointer from 23 feet as the buzzer sounded. The sophomore finished with a team-high 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including four 3-pointers. For the tournament, Peters averaged 18.7 ppg and 5.7 rpg, shot 53.8% from the floor and hit 10-of-17 from long range.
Joining Peters on the All-Tournament Team was junior guard Darien Walker (Chicago, Ill./Simeon [John A. Logan/Arizona Western]), who enjoyed a third consecutive strong game on Sunday. Walker joined Peters in double figures against Portland, finishing with 13 points and five rebounds. On the weekend, Walker shot 54.3% from the floor in averaging 16.7 ppg and connected on 8-of-17 from the 3-point line.
For the second time in as many days, Valpo would trail just briefly, this time coming when Portland converted on its opening possession of the game. The Crusaders responded immediately with a jumper from Peters, starting an early 13-2 Valpo run.
Peters and senior Vashil Fernandez (Kingston, Jamaica/Princeton Day [Md.] Academy) both had putback baskets during the spurt, and Peters then scored five straight to give him nine early points and force a Portland timeout. Two possessions later, a third-chance basket from freshman David Skara (Zadar, Croatia/Ekonomska Skola Zadar) capped the run as the Crusaders led 13-4 7:33 into the ballgame.
The teams traded baskets over the next minute-plus, but with the lead at 15-9, the Crusaders put together another big run to try to put the game out of reach early. Skara started the spurt with a 3-pointer, and freshman Tevonn Walker (Montreal, Quebec/Vanier College) knocked down a mid-range jumper on the next trip.
Two possessions later, Fernandez got his second putback of the game, followed by another Peters triple. The Crusaders forced a miss on Portland’s next trip, and Darien Walker grabbed the defensive board, taking it coast-to-coast himself for a layup to cap a 12-0 Valpo run which made it 27-9 with 7:49 to play in the first half.
The lead pushed up to 20 points for the first time on a 3-pointer from Walker with 4:37 to go in the half, and five late points from junior Keith Carter (Maywood, Ill./Proviso East [Saint Louis]) kept the advantage around that mark. Peters’ last-second 3-pointer sent the Crusaders into the locker room with a 42-20 lead, as Valpo shot 18-of-34 from the field in the first half and made six 3-pointers, while limiting Portland to 7-of-24 shooting and just two triples.
Baskets from Peters and Darien Walker within the first two minutes of the second half pushed the lead out to 26 points to all but eliminate any chance the Pilots had of mounting a comeback. Portland closed to within 57-41 with 8:32 to play, but a steal by sophomore Jubril Adekoya (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew) led to a fast-break 3-point play from Tevonn Walker, followed by a nice feed from Carter to Tevonn Walker for a shot clock-beating layup to take the lead back up to 21 points. The final margin came following a Pilots’ basket on their final basket, the closest they were over the game’s final 27 minutes.
The Crusaders got a balanced offensive effort on Sunday, as six Valpo players finished with at least seven points. Carter and Tevonn Walker both posted nine points, with the former handing out four assists and the latter grabbing seven rebounds. Junior E. Victor Nickerson (Atlanta, Ga./Norcross [Charlotte]) went 4-for-5 off the bench for eight points in just 11 minutes, while Skara added seven points off the bench as well. Fernandez tallied a game-high ten rebounds and three blocked shots, leading the efforts on the glass as Valpo bested one of the nation’s top rebounding teams, 38-23.
Portland (5-1) was led by a game-high 25 points off the bench from D’Marques Tyson, who knocked down six 3-pointers in the losing effort. No other Pilots player finished with more than eight points, as Portland shot just 40.8% from the field and committed 12 turnovers which the Crusaders converted into 21 points.
Bowling Green 64, Detroit 63
The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team dropped a 64-63 contest after visiting Bowling Green made a lay-up at the buzzer to give the Falcons the victory at historic Calihan Hall.
Detroit senior forward Juwan Howard Jr. hit the go-ahead jumper with 2.4 seconds left to give Detroit a 63-62 lead. Bowling Green was given 2.2 seconds on the clock after sophomore Matthew Grant nearly stole the ball on the insuing inbounds play. With another chance, BGSU found Richaun Holmes, who dribbled to the hoop and converted on a game-winning, contested lay-up just before the buzzer.
Freshman Paris Bass tallied 17 points, six rebounds and four steals for Detroit (4-3) off the bench. Howard added 14 points, while junior Anton Wilson scored 13 points for the Titans, including converting 3-of-5 triples. Grant posted six points, six assists and two blocks for the Titans.
Bowling Green (4-0) opened the game with a 10-2 run, including back-to-back baskets from Holmes with 15:19 left on the clock. Detroit was then able to respond with a 7-0 run, capped off by a dunk from Bass to make the score 10-9 with 13:55 left. The Falcons then put together a 22-14 run over the next 10 minutes to build a 32-23 lead with 3:05 remaining. The Titans were able to cut the deficit down to four, 32-28, following a three-pointer from Bass with 1:38 left, but Bowling Green closed the half with a 4-0 run, including a Holmes dunk in the closing seconds to take a 36-28 lead into the locker room.
Bass led Detroit with nine points in the first half, while Howard pitched in eight.
Detroit opened the second half with a quick 6-0 run on back-to-back three-pointers from Wilson and Brandan Kearney to make the score 36-34 with 18:57 left. The Falcons responded with an 18-10 run over the next seven minutes to build their largest lead of the game 54-44 with 11:43 remaining. Detroit answered back with a 13-2 run, capped off by a jumper from Bass to take its first lead - since 2-1 in the opening minutes - 57-56 with 4:19 remaining. Both teams then exchanged baskets for the final four minutes as their were eight lead changes, including Holmes' lay-up as time expired.
Both teams made 22 shots during the contest. Detroit was 22-of-49 from the field for a 44.9 shooting clip, while Bowling Green shot 38.6 percent from the floor. Bowling Green had a large advantage in rebounding, 41-27. The Titans also had the edge in bench scoring (25-23).
The Titans erased an eight-point halftime deficit, 36-28. Detroit was also the first team this season to score more than 60 points against BGSU.
