YSU, Valpo Grab Season-Opening Wins

Men’s Basketball Scoreboard (Nov. 8)
Youngstown State 73, Kennesaw State 57
Valparaiso 77, Murray State 74
South Alabama 74, Detroit 58
Loyola 76, Milwaukee 72
#12/11 North Carolina 84, Oakland 61

Youngstown State and Valparaiso grabbed season-opening wins on Friday night, while Detroit, Milwaukee and Oakland each began the year on the other side of the ledger.

Youngstown State 73, Kennesaw State 57
Playing its first game at the Kennesaw State Tournament, Youngstown State used Kendrick Perry’s 21st career game with 20 or more points and a career effort from Ryan Weber to breeze past host Kennesaw State, 73-57.

Weber scored a career-high 18 points in the win, the second straight year Youngstown State (1-0) has opened the season with a victory. The sophomore was 7-for-12 from the floor, including a 3-of-4 mark from 3-point range.

Perry, the preseason player of the year in the Horizon League, was typically efficient, posting a game-high 20 points while adding seven rebounds and five assists. Perry connected on 7-of-13 from the field.

In his collegiate debut, freshman Marcus Keene recorded 10 points, five boards and three assists off the bench.

Midway through the first half the Penguins used a 16-1 run over a six minute span to turn a one-point edge into a 16-point lead, 28-12, with 4:18 to go.

After owning a 10-2 lead early in the game, Owls used a 9-2 run to get within one, 12-11, before the Penguins transition offense began to click. A dunk and jumper by Perry and consecutive 3-pointers by Weber boosted the Penguins lead back to 10 with 7:46 left.

Another 3 by Weber, his third of the half, a layup by DJ Cole and two free throws from Perry extended the YSU lead to 16, 28-12.

The Owls chipped the lead down to nine, 28-19 with two minutes left, but a jumper by Keene, a layup by junior Shawn Amiker and a dunk by Perry pushed the lead back to 15, 34-19, with just over a minute left in the half.

In the second half, the Penguins shot 44.8 percent from the field and ran their lead to 18 points, 45-27, after a 3-pointer by Keene just six-and-a-half minutes into the frame.

YSU twice led by as many as 20 points, 56-36, and 63-43, and the Owls never came with 14 the rest of the way.

Valparaiso 77, Murray State 74
Raising banners from its 2013 Horizon League championship pregame, Valparaiso went about the business of breaking in several newcomers shortly thereafter, holding off Murray State, 77-74, at the ARC.

Trailing by a possession for most of the first half, Valparaiso (1-0) used an 18-6 run to close the half, turning a 25-20 deficit into a 38-31 lead at the intermission.

Valpo scored six straight over a three-possession span, including a fast-break two-handed slam from freshman Clay Yeo and a coast-to-coast play by senior Jordan Coleman, to go ahead 26-25 before the Racers briefly reclaimed the lead with three free throws. Junior Vashil Fernandez gave Valpo the lead for good with an offensive rebound and putback for a 3-point play, and then the next time down the court, threw down a monster one-handed slam to energize the ARC crowd.

Valpo kept the Racers at bay throughout the second half, extending its lead to as many as 12 points at 54-42 with 12:26 to go following a free throw from fifth-year senior Bobby Capobianco. Murray State crawled back into the game, getting within one possession at 68-65 with 5:21 to play on a fast-break basket from Dexter Fields, but Valpo responded with an old-fashioned 3-point play from freshman Alec Peters to go back up by six.

Murray State would cut its deficit to two points on three separate occasions down the stretch, but each time Valpo came up with a basket. Coleman drove for a layup with 1:27 to play to extend the Crusader lead back out to four points, and then after the Racers got back within two at 74-72 with 42 seconds left, Valpo wound the shot clock nearly all the way down before putting the ball in the hands of senior LaVonte Dority, who finished at the rim with 8.8 seconds remaining.

The Racers got the ball back with one last chance to tie, trailing by three with two seconds on the clock, but Coleman intercepted the three-quarters court pass to seal the Valpo win.

Coleman led the balanced Crusader offense on Friday with 16 points, including an 8-of-8 performance from the foul line. Fernandez scored a career-best 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting off the bench, while Peters added 12 points in his Valpo debut. Coleman and Peters each grabbed eight rebounds to go with seven from Fernandez as well, as Valpo out-rebounded the Racers, 44-35.

Murray State got a game-high 21 points out of Cameron Payne, but Payne went just 6-of-24 from the floor to get there. Fields and Tyler Rambo each scored 12 points as well for the Racers.

South Alabama 74, Detroit 58
Junior forward Juwan Howard, Jr., posted his first career double-double, but Detroit was plagued by poor shooting in a 74-58 loss at South Alabama.

Two South Alabama runs in the first half padded the Jaguars’ lead and kept Detroit (0-1) at arms’ length throughout the game.

Trailing 12-10 early as Howard scored eight of the Titans’ first 10 points, South Alabama used a 14-3 spurt to assume a 30-17 lead. Detroit would close within nine points before the Jaguars went back in front by 14 heading into the half.

Detroit would come within 11 points in the second half, but South Alabama would lead by as many as 66-44 before settling on the final margin.

Detroit was held to 28.9 percent (22-of-76) shooting overall, including just 7.1 percent (1-of-14) from downtown, while South Alabama shot 36.4 percent (24-of-66) overall, including 34.6 percent (9-of-26) from beyond the arc. The Titans grabbed 51 rebounds and forced 15 Jaguar turnovers, but only dished out five assists on the night while turning the ball over 12 times.

In his debut with the Titans, sophomore Carlton Brundidge added 14 points and eight boards.

Both senior Evan Bruinsma and freshman Jarod Williams chipped in 11 points.

Loyola 76, Milwaukee 72
Despite Matt Tiby’s sparkling debut, Milwaukee could not finish a late rally, falling at Loyola, 76-72, to open the season.

In his first Division I game, Tiby had 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists for Milwaukee (0-1). Along with controlling the block, Tiby knocked down a pair of three-pointers and went a perfect 7-of-7 from the foul line.

In a back-and-forth contest, Milwaukee was hampered by 18 turnovers and a 33-17 deficit in free-throw attempts.

Jeff White scored 23 points and Milton Doyle added 18, all in the second half for Loyola. Kyle Kelm added 13 points and Austin Arians 11 off the bench for Milwaukee.

The Panthers held the lead much of the first 20 minutes before heading into the locker room tied. Milwaukee grabbed a 16-13 advantage on a Kelm three-point play at the midway point of the half and went up 18-13 on a Tiby layup 80 seconds later.

Milwaukee's lead was still 21-17 on a Jordan Aaron 3 with 6:15 remaining and hit 25-19 on a Kelm layin with 3:10 left. But Loyola ended the half on a 9-3 run to tie things at 28 at the break. It looked like UWM might have taken the lead back heading into the locker room, but a three-pointer by Arians was ruled to be after the halftime buzzer.

Loyola opened the second half with an 8-2 burst but Milwaukee answered with eight-straight points of its own for a 38-36 lead. The two teams traded the lead from there, with a Tiby 3 pushing UWM ahead 50-47 and a three-pointer from Thierno Niang making it 57-53.

But the Ramblers took the lead back for good at 59-57 on a pair of free throws by White with 7:56 left. The lead grew to 65-60 on a three-pointer by Doyle and hit 73-64 when Doyle hit a three-pointer with 2:15 remaining.

Milwaukee didn't go away, pulling within 73-70 on a pair of Arians free throws with 28.8 left and then within 74-72 on a Kelm follow-up hoop with 16.9 remaining. But on the ensuing inbounds play, Niang was called for a foul when he thought he had gotten to the ball first, sending White to the line for two more free throws to clinch the win.

#12/11 North Carolina, Oakland
Shooting just 21-percent in the first half, Oakland dug itself a 37-point deficit and could not recover in an 84-61 loss at No. 12/11 North Carolina.

After trading early baskets, North Carolina blitzed Oakland (0-1) with a 17-2 run to assume a 19-point lead less than nine minutes into the game. The Tar Heels refused to allow the Golden Grizzlies any chance of a comeback, shooting 74 percent in the first half.

Still, Oakland fought back over the game’s final 20 minutes, outscoring North Carolina, 40-26. Senior Travis Bader led the Golden Grizzlies with 18 points, knocking down 4-of-11 attempts from 3-point range. Bader is now tied for 24th on the all-time list, matching the output of former Rhode Island gunner Jimmy Baron with 361 career 3-pointers.