Valparaiso moved into a portion of first put in the Horizon League as fifth-year senior Cory Johnson (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East [Iowa State]) led the Crusaders with 20 points in a 64-58 victory over Cleveland State Sunday afternoon at the Athletics-Recreation Center.
The Crusaders rallied from a double-digit first-half deficit for the win Sunday after the Vikings, one of their higher-profile victories in late years. Cleveland State entered the week ranked #1 in the Mid-Major Top-25 poll and was receiving votes in both the AP and Coaches` Top-25. In addition, the Vikings entered the day 24th in the land in RPI, Valpo`s best victory based on RPI since downing Milwaukee (20th) at the ARC on Dec. 11, 2004.
Johnson followed up a 26-point effort Friday night with another stellar performance in the scoring column Sunday, knocking down nine of his 12 attempts from within the 3-point line en route to his 20 points. Johnson, who even for game-high honors, was the only Crusader to close in double figures, but got sight of help, as six other Valpo players scored at least five points.
Sophomore Ryan Broekhoff (Frankston, Victoria, Australia/Australian Institute of Sport) knocked down a triplet in the game`s low minute for the first basket of the contest, but CSU answered with seven straight points and the Crusaders trailed the balance of the 1st half. A pull-up jumper from just outside the key by senior Michael Rogers (Kingston, Jamaica/Redemption [N.Y.] Christian) brought the Crusaders back to within 9-8 seven minutes in.
It would have over nine minutes for the Crusaders to encounter the hoop from the subject again, enabling a 10-0 Cleveland State run over that stint as the Vikings extended their head to double figures. Trailing by 11 with 5 minutes to go in the half, Johnson connected on a couple of free throws to shoot the scoring drought and then redshirt junior Brandon Wood (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo [Highland C.C./Southern Illinois]) took a course from Johnson for a layup to cut the deficit to seven.
CSU`s Josh McCoy knocked down a sweater in the paint two trips later to fight the Viking advantage back to 9 points, but the Crusaders took the momentum into the cabinet room with the last six points of the stanza as both Johnson and senior Howard Little (Chicago, Ill./Stoneridge [Calif.] School) got second-chance putbacks, followed by a Little feed to Johnson for a layup with 44 seconds to go to cap the first-half scoring. All told, the Crusaders went on a 10-2 run over the last 5 minutes of the half, enabling them to go into the cabinet room trailing by just 21-18.
The 2nd half was the antithesis of the low half in regards to the scoreboard, as after combining for only 16 FGs, five FTs and 39 points in the 1st half, the two squads totaled 31 FGs, 13 FTs and 83 points in the second stanza. A layup by CSU`s Trevon Harmon right out of the part open the scoring, but the Crusaders answered with six straight points on a fast-break layup by sophomore Erik Buggs (Memphis, Tenn./Mitchell) and a couple of layups by Johnson to submit its first lead since early at 24-23 with 18:26 remaining.
The game hovered around anywhere from a tie to a four-point Crusader edge for the following few minutes, until a 3-pointer by freshman Jay Harris (Aurora, Ill./Oswego East) with 13:35 to go sparked a Valpo spurt. Sophomore Kevin Van Wijk (Hoofddorp, Netherlands/Katholieke Scholengemeenschap Hoofddorp) converted an easy inside bucket off a flow from Buggs, Rogers had a free throw and later a layup and Little also scored inside as Valpo went on a 10-2 run to fight the run to 47-38 with 10 minutes to play.
Cleveland State scored five quick points to go back within four with 8:55 remaining, but again Harris stepped up and hit a 3-pointer to get another run. Johnson had a couple of buckets during this spurt, including a fast-break dunk, while Wood also connected on a triple. When Harris hit his third 3-pointer of the back with 4:35 to play, it capped a 13-2 run that gave the Crusaders a 60-45 lead.
The Vikings had one big spurt left, scoring the following 12 points as Valpo went scoreless over the following four minutes, and a fast-break layup by Harmon brought CSU back within 60-57 with under a minute to play. On the ensuing Crusader possession, Little recovered the ball down low after nearly fumbling it out of boundary and hit Broekhoff in the left corner with a one-handed pass. The sophomore coolly drained his third 3-pointer of the lame to get it a six-point game and fix the Valpo victory.
Broekhoff and Harris each hit three triples to make nine points, while Wood added eight points as good for the Crusaders. Valpo shot 63.3% (19-of-30) in the 2nd half from the field after shooting just 25.9% (7-of-27) in the opening 20 minutes. Little grabbed a Valpo season-best 11 rebounds and also led all players with five assists, while Wood and Buggs each handed out three apiece.
Harmon led Cleveland State (15-3, 4-2 Horizon) with 20 points, all of which came in the 2nd half afterwards he was saddled with first-half foul trouble. Aaron Pogue went for 12 points and seven rebounds, including six offensive, while the Crusaders limited Norris Cole, who entered the game star the conference in grading and steals and back in assists, to only 10 points on 3-of-12 shooting and three assists while forcing six turnovers. Valpo forced a number of 16 CSU turnovers while committing just 10 of its own on the day.
Valparaiso (12-5, 4-1 Horizon) now sits in a tie with Butler, Detroit and Wright State atop the league standings and will confront the latter two schools on its road trip next weekend. The trip starts at Wright State Friday night at 6 p.m. CST, and all the process can be heard live on the Valpo Sports Radio Network and online at www.valpoathletics.com, which will also give a link for live stats. The back can likewise be seen live only at www.espn3.com.
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