#HLMBB Scoreboard (Feb. 14)
#rv/rv Valparaiso 63, Green Bay 59
Detroit 66, Cleveland State 65
Valparaiso 63, Green Bay 59
The Valparaiso men’s basketball team moved into first place by itself atop the Horizon League standings Friday night, as the Crusaders led by as many as 15 points in the second half and held off Green Bay down the stretch to earn a 63-59 victory over the Phoenix in front of a packed house and a national television audience. With the win, Valpo improves to 23-4 overall and 10-2 in league play.
The Crusaders led by six at the half thanks to a nifty scoop layup from freshman David Skara (Zadar, Croatia/Ekonomska Skola Zadar) right before the halftime horn. Valpo then extended the halftime lead out of the break thanks to big plays from another rookie, Tevonn Walker (Montreal, Quebec/Vanier College). On the first possession of the half, senior Vashil Fernandez (Kingston, Jamaica/Princeton Day [Md.] Academy) hit Walker underneath for a layup. Three trips later, the Crusaders missed a fast-break layup opportunity, but Walker was there for the tip-in, extending the lead to 33-23 and forcing a Green Bay timeout.
Out of the timeout, the Phoenix cut into Valpo’s lead, with a fast-break basket from Keifer Sykes bringing Green Bay within six points at 35-29. But on the next offensive possession, sophomore Alec Peters (Washington, Ill./Washington) earned a trip to the foul line, scoring his first two points of the game and sparking a personal 10-1 run. Over the next three minutes, the sophomore reached double figures in the scoring column, converting a pair of old-fashioned 3-point plays – the second of which gave the Crusaders a 45-30 lead with 12:23 remaining.
The Crusaders went cold at that point, unable to score over a span of nearly five minutes, but the defense held strong, surrendering just eight points over the same stretch to Green Bay as the Phoenix closed to within 45-38. A layup by sophomore Jubril Adekoya (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew) started a five-point spurt over 90 seconds from the sophomore, and when Walker canned a 3-pointer with 5:20 to play, the lead was back up to 53-39.
Green Bay would not go away, cutting the deficit down to 10 points and then knocking down back-to-back 3-pointers courtesy of Daeshon Francis and Carrington Love to move to within 56-49 with 2:34 to play. Two possessions later, Peters hit two free throws to push the lead back to nine points, but Valpo would miss its next five free throw attempts.
While the Crusaders couldn’t connect from the line, the Phoenix continued to close, as Jordan Fouse converted a layup inside and then grabbed a missed free throw and hit a short jumper as the lead was cut to four points. Junior E. Victor Nickerson (Atlanta, Ga./Norcross) finally broke the string of missed free throws by hitting the back end of a two-shot foul, but a triple by Love with 35 seconds left made it a one-possession game at 59-57. But two points was as close as the Phoenix would get down the stretch, as first Nickerson and then Walker stepped up and hit two free throws in the final seconds.
Green Bay led early on, but an 8-0 run by the Crusaders – including six points from Walker – put Valpo ahead 11-5 just under seven minutes into the game. The Phoenix fought back to twice tie the game in the late stages of the first half, but the second time, Walker would knock down a 3-pointer with 4:27 to play in the half, a shot which would give Valpo the lead for good. The lead was just two points entering the final minute of the period, but first freshman Max Joseph (Montreal, Quebec/Vanier College) and then Skara hit driving shots in the final 60 seconds to make it a 29-23 edge at the break.
Walker led all players with his second-best offensive outing of the year, going 7-of-12 from the field for a game-high 20 points. Peters was the only Crusader to join Walker in double figures, scoring 12 points despite going scoreless in the first half. In fact, the sophomore had a double-double in the second half alone, as after entering halftime with no points and no rebounds, Peters ended the night with 12 points and 10 boards.
Valpo shot just 37.3% from the floor for the game, but took full advantage of limited 3-point attempts, going 4-of-7 from downtown. The Crusaders out-rebounded Green Bay 45-30, led by Peters’ 10 boards and eight rebounds by Fernandez, who also blocked three shots. Skara handed out a team-best three assists and also came up with two steals.
Love paced Green Bay (20-6, 9-3 Horizon) with 15 points, one of four Phoenix starters to end the night in double figures. Greg Mays tallied 10 points, four assists and five blocked shots, as Green Bay blocked 11 shots on the evening. The Crusaders limited the Phoenix to just 32.7% shooting from the field and just 5-of-15 from behind the 3-point line.
Detroit 66, Cleveland State 65
Juwan Howard Jr. nailed a go-ahead 3-pointer with five seconds left to push the University of Detroit Mercy past first place Cleveland State, 66-65, on Friday night at Calihan Hall in a nationally-televised game on ESPNU.
The Titans (12-15, 5-7 HL) trailed by two, 65-63, with 13 seconds left when they inbounded the ball. Moving up the court, Chris Jenkins was able to find Howard Jr. on the left side and he drained the triple with 4.8 left in the game.
Cleveland State (15-11, 9-3 HL) then took the inbounds pass and Charlie Lee ran it up the floor and all the way to the net, but his layup rimmed out for the win.
Howard Jr. finished with a game-high 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting with three 3-pointers and three assists. Anton Wilson had nine points and Jenkins scored eight with four rebounds and his lone helper of the contest on the game winner.
The Titans led by eight at the half and extended that to 15 with a 7-0 run to start the second period. Howard Jr. began the spurt with a 3-pointer and then added another basket and Bass put UDM up, 42-27, with a bucket at the 18:25 mark. A few minutes later, two free throws from Howard Jr. once again made it a 15-point lead, 46-31, with 16:25 left.
The Vikings would respond with a 16-4 run over the next five and a half minutes to make it a one-possession game, 50-47, but the Titans held strong as Matthew Grant stopped the damage with a triple and after a free throw by Wilson, Detroit led 54-47 with 8:18 remaining.
From there, the Vikings went on an 18-9 run over the next eight minutes to take their first lead of the game at 62-59 with under a minute left, and then led 65-63 until Howard Jr.'s shot ignited the crowd.
Jaleel Hogan tallied seven points and a team-best six boards. Paris Bass posted seven points and four rebounds and Jarod Williams recorded four points, three caroms and a team-high five assists.
Detroit shot 42.0 percent from the field and was 9-of-21 from three-point territory. The Titans also forced Cleveland State into 14 turnovers – including 10 steals - and turned those into 20 points.
The Titans took it to the Vikings right from the start as they scored the games first five points with Howard Jr. hitting a basket and Bass draining one from behind the arc. Jenkins later extended the lead to 8-2 at the 13:01 mark with a three of his own.
The early defensive pressure saw the Titans force five turnovers and hold CSU to just 1-of-5 from the field in the first seven minutes.
The Vikings would cut the lead to one, 8-7, but the Titans continued to frustrate Cleveland State and pushed their advantage to 20-13 with 7:37 left in the first. CSU trimmed that to six, 26-20, but Wilson knocked in a three and was fouled, connecting on a free throw for the rare four-point play and a 30-20 advantage with 2:08 remaining.
CSU was within six again, 32-26, after back-to-back 3-pointers, but a trey from Howard Jr. with 40 seconds left made it a nine-point game and the Titans led at the half, 35-27.
Tags: Detroit Mercy - Men's Basketball · Horizon League - Men's Basketball · Valparaiso - Men's Basketball
