Wright State, Green Bay, Valparaiso and Milwaukee Collect First Conference Victories

Men’s Basketball Scoreboard (Jan. 2)
Wright State 76, Oakland 64
Green Bay 66, Cleveland State 55
Valparaiso 87, UIC 72
Milwaukee 82, Youngstown State 76

Wright State 76, Oakland 64
An early 20-8 run in the second half proved to be the catalyst for the Wright State men’s basketball team as it defeated Oakland Thursday night at the Nutter Center 76-64. Corey Petros led Oakland with 16 points and eight rebounds while Miles Dixon and Chrishawn Hopkins each scored 13 points for the Raiders in the Horizon League opener for both teams.

There were seven ties and nine lead changes in the first half before the Raiders went up 30-28 at the break on two Kendall Griffin foul shots with a minute remaining.  Wright State shot 39 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes compared to 37 percent for the Golden Grizzlies.

Oakland regained the advantage at 31-30 on a Corey Petros three-point play to start the second half, only to see Wright State go in front to stay on a JT Yoho three. Nursing a three-point lead, Wright State surged ahead with a 17-6 run capped off by a 3-pointer from Reggie Arceneaux with 8:12 remaining.

The Golden Grizzlies would get no closer than eight the rest of the way as Wright State sealed the victory by going 21 of 25 at the line in the second half and 26 of 32 for the game.  Oakland, meanwhile, was 14 of 20 overall and 10 of 16 after halftime.

Wright State also hit 11 of 17 shots in the second half to finish at 49 percent while Oakland shot 44 percent the final 20 minutes to end up at 40 percent.
The Golden Grizzlies matched the Raiders with 21 field goals, but had nine more attempts, finishing at 40.4 percent. Wright State was 26 of 32 from the free-throw line.

Cole Darling contributed 10 points for Wright State on the night while Travis Bader had 15 and Kahlil Felder had 10 for Oakland.

Green Bay 66, Cleveland State 55
A strong second half by Green Bay helped the Phoenix claim a 66-55 victory over Cleveland State in the Horizon League opener for both teams on Thursday night at the Resch Center. Anton Grady and Marlin Mason both had double-doubles to lead the Vikings while Alec Brown, Jordan Fouse and Keifer Sykes balanced out the Phoenix offensive attack.

The Phoenix took an early 10-6 lead, but Cleveland State answered with 10 straight points, including six straight by Douglas, to assume a 16-10 lead with 9:07 left in the half. Alec Brown scored on a layup to bring the Phoenix back within 16-12, ending a six-plus minute scoring drought for Green Bay.
Green Bay would pull back within a point (20-19) with just over six minutes left, but Cleveland State rattled off five straight points to regain a six point lead (25-19) on a three-pointer and two free throws by Forbes.

The Viking defense once again clamped down on the Phoenix over the final six minutes of the first half, giving up just four points to take a 29-23 lead into the locker room

Trailing 29-23 at halftime, Green Bay used a 9-0 run early in the second half to go in front with 13:11 to play, and the hosts never trailed the rest of the way. Cleveland State shot just 10-of-30 from the field in the second half as the Phoenix swatted five shots and tallied six steals.

The Vikings got back within one (43-42) on a jumper by Mason, but five straight from the Phoenix helped them open up a six point lead (48-42) with just under nine minutes to play. The lead would grow nine with 3:31 left, but Mason answered with a three-pointer to bring Cleveland State within six with two minutes left.

After a timeout called by head coach Brian Wardle, Fouse found the 5-foot-11 Sykes on a backdoor cut for a flush in the lane. The two teams traded 1-for-2 trips to the free throw line before Fouse had a steal and a monster dunk for the dagger and a 63-53 lead.

The Phoenix featured terrific balance on Thursday night, with senior Alec Brown totaling 17 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots to lead the team. Sophomore Jordan Fouse scored a season-best 15 points and added seven boards, five assists and three steals, and junior Keifer Sykes  added 15 points.

Opening on the road in league play for the fifth straight year, the Vikings received 11 points and 10 rebounds from Mason, while Grady totaled 10 points and 10 boards. Trey Lewis scored 11 points with four assists, while Charlie Lee added eight points and four assists before fouling out late.
Cleveland State was playing without sixth man Jon Harris who missed the game with a concussion.

The Vikings shot just 23-of-58 (.397) from the floor and 3-of-21 (.143) from three-point. Green Bay shot .550 (22-40) from the field, including 12-of-19 (.632) in the second half.

Cleveland State won the rebounding battle, 35-26, while Green Bay blocked eight shots.

Valparaiso 87, UIC 72
Valparaiso rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit with a 55-point second half to defeat UIC 87-72 at the ARC Thursday night in the Horizon League opener for both teams. Junior Marc Brown paced the Flames with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting, while seniors Kelsey Barlow and Hayden Humes chipped in 13 and 12, respectively.  Keith Carter, playing his fourth career game in a Valparaiso uniform and his first at the ARC, tied for game-high honors with 19 points, missing just one of his eight field goal attempts.

UIC’s eight-point halftime lead was its largest of the game spurred by a Humes three-pointer with four seconds remaining.  The Flames were red hot from behind the arc in the first half, sinking 5-of-8 (62.5%), including two from Humes and Barlow.  UIC’s defense forced nine Valpo turnovers in the first 20 minutes and converted those miscues into 12 points.  Humes led all scorers at the break with 10 points.

Valparaiso held a few early leads in the first half, but never led by more than two points.  The Flames held the advantage for the vast majority of the opening 20 minutes, with their lead staying mostly between four and six points.  A Dority 3-pointer with four minutes to go in the half brought the Crusaders within one, but UIC extended its lead before the break, scoring five points in the final minute to take the 40-32 lead into the locker room.

The Crusaders needed just 5:26 to take the lead in the second half after trailing 40-32 at the break, its first lead in nearly 20 minutes.  Valparaiso then took the lead for good with 9:18 to play.  The Crusaders shot 68.2% (15-of-22) from the field in the second half, including six 3-pointers, and also hit 19 free throws while committing just two turnovers for a 55-point half, outscoring UIC 55-32 in the final 20 minutes.

Dority scored 14 points and also added six assists for Valparaiso while Coleman tallied 13 points and led the Crusaders with six rebounds, while Williams added 11 points and three assists.

Senior Jordan Harks grabbed a game-high eight rebounds for the Flames as he tacked on nine points, while hitting 4-of-6 from the field.  To go along with his 19 points, Brown corralled a season-high six boards.  Sophomore Gabe Snider knocked down 2-of-2 from behind the arc, increasing his season three-point shooting percentage to 45.9.

Milwaukee 82, Youngstown State 76
A late comeback by Youngstown State did not prove to be enough as the Penguins were defeated  82-76 by Milwaukee Thursday night at US Cellular Arena. Jordan Aaron scored 27 points for the Panthers while Kendrick Perry scored a game-high 31 points for Youngstown State in the Horizon League opener for both teams.

After giving up the first basket of the game, the Panthers led the rest of the way in the first half. Milwaukee scored seven in a row to claim a 7-2 advantage and extended the lead to 14-6 on a pair of Tiby free throws.

A 10-4 run over a five minute span got the Penguins within three, 27-24, with 4:15 left in the half. Milwaukee, though, made four straight 3-pointers to close out the half on a 12-5 run to take a 39-29 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Panthers quickly pushed the lead to 12 as McWhorter scored five points in a row and extended the advantage to 52-36 on a Tiby layin with 15:30 remaining. Milwaukee eventually led 64-48 on a McWhorter three with 9:15 left and then had a 69-50 lead after five-straight points from Aaron.

The Penguins trailed by 19, at the 8:14 mark after two free throws by Aaron. Perry scored Youngstown State's next seven points and nine of its next 11 as Youngstown went on an 11-1 run to get within nine, 70-61, with 3:27 mark.

After the teams traded baskets, Weber buried a 3-pointer to get the Penguins within six, 72-66, with 1:45 to go.

A pair of 3-pointers by Perry cut the deficit to five, 81-76, but Milwaukee’s Matt Tiby made a free throw with nine seconds left to seal the win for the Panthers.

Steve McWhorter added 17 points for Milwaukee, which also got 12 points and 10 rebounds from Kyle Kelm and 11 points plus seven rebounds from Matt Tiby.

Sophomore Ryan Weber scored 14 points, all in the second half, and senior Kamren Belin and sophomore Bobby Hain each added 10 points for the Penguins.

The Penguins shot just 37.5 percent from the field and went just 1-for-10 from 3-point range, including missing their first nine attempts from beyond the arc. Milwaukee buried six 3-pointers in the first half and outrebounded Youngstown State, 21-14.