Horizon League Men’s Basketball Scoreboard (Nov. 13)
Valparaiso 69, Northern Illinois 46
St. John’s 77, Detroit 74
Wright State 56, Eastern Illinois 44
No. 5/5 Michigan 77, Cleveland State 47
Valparaiso and Detroit split results during ESPN’s 24 Hours of Hoops Marathon, while Wright State improved to 2-0 for the first time in five years on Tuesday night. Cleveland State lost in the final of the NIT Season Tip-Off North Regional.
Valparaiso 69, Northern Illinois 46
It took half to wake up, but with an 8 a.m. ET tip, it was understandable. Opening the second half on a 21-5 run, Valparaiso breezed past Northern Illinois, 69-46, at the ARC.
Despite the early tip time, the earliest start time for a Crusader men's game at the ARC in program history, Valparaiso students were out in force. Tailgating started outside in the dead of night at 4 a.m., and crowds swarmed to the pancake breakfast held in Hilltop Gym starting at 6 a.m. The student section filled up within minutes of the door opening, almost all sporting the neon green t-shirts which were given away to the first 1,000 fans.
It was a slow start for both squads once the game got underaway, as Northern Illinois scored on its first possession and then went scoreless for over five minutes. Valparaiso’s (2-0) only points in the first six minutes came courtesy of a pair of free throws from Ryan Broekhoff just over two minutes into the game.
Broekhoff was seemingly the lone player ready for the early-morning start, scoring Valpo's first seven points of the game, converting a fast-break layup and hitting a 3-pointer on back-to-back trips to give the Crusaders a 7-4 lead they would not relinquish. The senior then fed junior Jordan Coleman for a 3-pointer of his own to push the edge to six points.
Later in the half, Broekhoff connected on three 3-pointers in a stretch of just 2:43, the last of which put Valpo ahead 21-11 with 5:29 to play in the half and capped a 16-point half for the senior. The Crusaders would score just one basket, a driving layup by Erik Buggs, in the final five and a half minutes as Northern Illinois closed to within 23-17 at the break.
The second half was a different story, however, as the Crusaders jumped all over the Huskies out of the break. Buggs hit Ben Boggs for 3-pointers on each of Valpo's first two possessions to push the lead to 29-17 and force an NIU timeout just 50 seconds into the half.
Valpo's lead never fell back into single digits the rest of the way and quickly made its way up to 20 points. A four-point possession just over 4:30 into the second period, on a basket by Matt Kenney and two free throws off an offensive rebound from Broekhoff, gave the Crusaders a 38-22 edge.
The offensive board was the first of the game for Valparaiso, but it also gave Broekhoff his first double-double of the season in just 23 minutes of work. The senior finished with 20 points, 13 boards in 30 minutes of court time, posting his 15th career double-double.
Broekhoff and Coleman capped the rout with consecutive steals and dunks, with Kenney closing the rout with back-to-back three-pointers. Kenney scored 16 points, all in the second half as he was a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor in the period. Boggs added 11 points, including three 3-pointers, to round out the trio of Crusaders in double figures.
As a team, Valpo shot 52.1-percent (25-of-48) from the floor, including 54.2-percent (13-of-24) from 3-point range; those numbers were aided by 68-percent and 72.7-percent shooting in the second half. Defensively, the Crusaders limited Northern Illinois to just 29.2-percent (19-of-65) shooting from the field and hit just four 3-pointers on 18 tries.
St. John’s 77, Detroit 74
Detroit led by seven points midway through the second half, but ultimately went cold against St. John’s matchup zone, falling 77-74, at Carnesecca Arena as part of the 24 Hours of Hoops Marathon on ESPN.
Detroit (1-1) scored 11 straight points in the first half, sending the Titans into the locker room with a 37-29 halftime lead. With 9:20 to play in the game, the Titans led 60-53, but went cold the rest of the way.
Still, the Titans had a shot to tie at the horn, forcing a turnover after Ray McCallum’s layup cut the deficit to three with two second to play; McCallum deflected the inbounds pass to Juwan Howard Jr., whose three to tie was on line, but short.
McCallum led Detroit with 21 points, coming on 8-for-23 shooting; Jason Calliste added 18.
St. John's took its first lead since 25-23 when Sir’Dominic Pointer scored on a drive to make it 64-62 with 4:39 to play. That shot capped an 11-2 run during which the Titans managed one field goal in six possessions.
The Red Storm extended the lead to 75-69 on two free throws by Greene with 17 seconds left before Detroit’s ferocious rally gave them one more chance to force overtime.
Wright State 56, Eastern Illinois 44
Wright State started slow, but the Raiders closed the first half with a flurry en route to a 56-44 win at Eastern Illinois on Tuesday night.
Wright State (2-0) won consecutive road games for the first time since Dec. 29-31, 2011, as Reggie Arceneaux and JT Yoho paced the offense.
The Raiders got off to a slow start, opening the game with four turnovers and a 1-of-7 shooting effort. However, Yoho settled the offense by hitting his first three attempts of the game, helping turn a 7-6 deficit into an 18-11 lead.
Arceneaux then took the offensive reigns, scoring eight of Wright State’s last 14 points to close the half, sending the Raiders into the locker room with a 32-17 advantage.
After starting the game 1-for-7, Wright State finished the half by going 10-for-16 from the field.
Neither team generated much offense in the second half, with the Raiders going just 7-for-20 and Eastern Illinois scoring 27 points.
Yoho led a balanced Raiders’ offense with 14 points, going 4-for-5, including a 3-of-4 effort from three-point range. In his first two games, the freshman is 10-for-13 from the field, leading Wright State in efficiency on the night.
Arceneaux added 10, while Kendall Griffin added 11 in 33 minutes.
The 2-0 start is the first for the Raiders since the 2007-08 season, when Wright State went 21-10 overall.
No. 5/5 Michigan 77, Cleveland State 47
Cleveland State started slowly and never recovered, taking a 77-47 loss at the hands of No. 5/5 Michigan in the North Regional Championship of the NIT Season Tip-Off.
As the No. 2 seed in the North Region, Cleveland State (2-1) will learn whether it is a host for the subregional rounds on Wednesday.
Cleveland State shot just 6-of-27 in the opening 20 minutes, while crisp ball movement helped Michigan go 18-for-28 from the field in building a 28-point halftime lead.
The Vikings settled in during the second half, limiting Michigan to 12-for-31 shooting, but the damage was already done.
Anton Grady led the Vikings with 15 points, repeatedly calling for the ball in the post as he went 7-for-15 from the floor.
Cleveland State, which saw four starters play 40 or more minutes in Monday’s overtime win, shot just 17-for-56 in the game.
Tags: Cleveland State - Men's Basketball · Detroit Mercy - Men's Basketball · Valparaiso - Men's Basketball · Wright State - Men's Basketball
