YSU, Valpo Each Move to 3-2 in #HLMBB Play

#HLMBB Scoreboard (Jan. 18)
Valparaiso 75, Milwaukee 62
Youngstown State 77, Detroit 63

At some point, the Horizon League men's basketball standings may gain some separation. But for now, six teams sit in a tie for second place or are one game back after Valparaiso and Youngstown State each collected victories on Saturday.

Valparaiso 75, Milwaukee 62
Nineteen first-half points from Lavonte Dority helped propel Valparaiso to a 10-point halftime lead on Milwaukee Saturday afternoon at the ARC, a lead the Crusaders would never relinquish in the second half en route to a 75-62 win over the Panthers.

Valparaiso (11-9, 3-2 Horizon) got off to a slow start from the field Saturday, falling behind 14-5 seven minutes into the game as it hit just two of its first 10 field goal attempts. Following Valpo’s second timeout of the game, the offense started clicking as it hit its next five shots from the floor. Dority was responsible for three of the makes, including a 3-pointer, while Keith Carter knocked down a triple of his own and hit Dority for his three, as the Crusaders cut the Milwaukee lead to 20-17 halfway through the period.

Milwaukee (13-7, 3-3 Horizon) got the lead back up to four at 22-18 before Valpo put together a quick 9-0 run to take the lead for good. Freshman Alec Peters started the spurt with a nice inside move for a layup, and two possessions later, Carter fed Moussa Gueye for a two-handed slam to tie things up at 22 apiece.

Carter then came down on the next trip and pulled up for his second triple of the half, forcing a Milwaukee timeout with 5:48 remaining in the period and the Crusaders leading 25-22. After a defensive stop, Dority drove and finished at the rim to cap the nine-point spurt and give Valpo a five-point lead.

A triple from the Panthers’ Austin Arians with 4:16 to go in the half brought Milwaukee back within two points, but the Crusaders closed the half on an 11-3 run to earn a 40-30 lead at the break. The run was highlighted by back-to-back dunks from Vashil Fernandez and Dority, with the latter making it a double-digit game at the half thanks to his third 3-pointer with under a minute to play.

The lead remained with a few points on either side of the 10-point lead for most of the second half, with the Crusaders extending the lead to as many as 13 at 52-39 with 14:10 remaining following a 7-0 spurt capped by a Carter 3-pointer. The lead was still 12 with 7:09 to play, but Milwaukee sliced its deficit in half over the next two minutes, as an inside basket from Matt Tiby made it a 60-54 game with five minutes to go.

The Panthers missed a 3-point attempt on their next trip, however, and the Crusaders took advantage, as Jordan Coleman hit a jumper in the lane while being fouled, knocking down the free throw to push the lead back to nine points. After a pair of Carter free throws, Milwaukee scored the next four points to cut the lead to seven, but Lexus Williams hit two from the line and followed the next time down by hitting Dority on the right wing for the dagger 3-pointer.

Dority ended the night with 27 points, his second consecutive 20-point game and his third in Valpo’s last four outings. The senior went 9-of-16 from the floor, including 5-of-10 from beyond the 3-point line, and also grabbed five rebounds. Dority was joined in double figures by Williams, who went 7-of-8 from the foul line in a 12-point effort, and Carter, who scored 10 points on just three field goal attempts and also handed out a team-best five assists.

The Crusaders shot 43.4-percent (23-of-53) from the floor for the game, and despite being limited to just seven second-half field goals, got the job done at the foul line, going 18-of-21 at the stripe in the final 20 minutes. Valpo also enjoyed a significant 47-30 edge on the boards, led by 12 rebounds from Gueye and six from Fernandez. Both posts also blocked a pair of shots apiece.

Milwaukee was led by 22 points from Tiby on 7-of-12 shooting, while Jordan Aaron scored 13 points. The Crusaders limited UWM to just 32.3-percent (20-of-62) shooting from the field, including just 6-of-31 from beyond the 3-point line.

Youngstown State 77, Detroit 63
Youngstown State outscored Detroit by 12 points in the second half to pick up a 77-63 win over the Titans on Saturday night at the Beeghly Center.

Four players finished in double figures, led by DJ Cole who scored 22, 16 of which came in the second half. Bobby Hain finished with 18, 11 in the second half, while Kendrick Perry and Ryan Weber each finished with 13.

Cole was 6-of-10 from the floor, but an impressive 4-of-5 from behind the 3-point arc. He also had nine assists and six rebounds.

The win improves YSU to 12-8 on the season and 3-2 in the Horizon League. Detroit drops to 8-12 and 1-4.

The Penguins blew open a 51-47 contest by making six straight shots in a span of four-and-a-half minutes during the second half.

Weber drained a 3-pointer at 8:42 to get things rolling. Then under a minute later he drained a step-back triple on a fast break to give the Penguins a 57-47 lead.

Hain drained a wide-open 3-pointer at the 6:44 mark and on the next YSU possession he converted a layup from an nifty pass by Cole. Shawn Amiker knocked one down from 10 feet to increase the lead to 68-54.

In the second half, YSU shot 65.2 percent (15-of-23) and made a sizzling 63.6 percent (7-of-11) from behind the 3-point arc. Detroit made just one 3-pointer in nine attempts in the second half.

YSU led 28-26 at the break, but neither team was able to establish any momentum. The biggest lead for the Penguins was six while the Titans biggest advantage was four. The game was tied three teams and the team's traded the lead on four occasions.

The final tie of the first half was at 22 following a free throw by Ugochukwu Njoku at the 3:12 mark. Perry converted a layup and then two Hain free throws made the score YSU 26-22 at 55 seconds later. The Titans closed within 28-26 on a driving bank-shot by Juwan Howard with four seconds left in the period.

The Guins opened the game by making their first two 3-pointers, but after that misfired on their final seven from behind the arc. Conversely, they were 7-of-12 from inside and 8-of-10 from the free-throw line.

YSU was 9-of-21 from the field (42.9 percent) while the Titans made 10-of-25 attempts (40 percent) in the opening half.