University of Detroit Mercy Athletics - Crusaders Hang-on to First .

Box score (.pdf)Box score (.html) DETROIT-Valparaiso used a hot start to catch a 78-68 win over Detroit at Calihan Hall Sunday afternoon. Valpo (14-5, 6-1) connected on 13 of its first 16 shots to snatch the star in the other departure and never looked back, remaining atop the Horizon League standings.Nick Minnerath had a double-double with career-highs- 23 points and 12 rebounds- but Detroit (10-9, 4-3 HL) couldn't dig itself out of a trap created in the 1st half with the Crusaders' jump start.

With another good crowd on hand for this Homecoming game, Detroit looked to shrug-off a Friday setback against Butler. A Ray McCallum layup and a Jason Calliste triple looked to get things rolling for the Titans, but it was short-lived as Valpo made 5 of its first seven shots from long run and quickly staked itself to a double-digit lead. The Crusaders went into halftime with an 11-point cushion, outshooting UDM 51.5 to 29.2 percent. The hot shooting gave the visitors a conduct as great as 18 in the 1st half, but the Titans made an attempt to get to the line, going 13-of-16 from the band while Valpo missed on its just two freebies in the opening 20 minutes. While the lead hovered between 7 and 13 points for the rest of the 2nd half, Valpo held a seemingly comfortable 13-point margin with 1:27 left. A couple of McCallum breakaway dunks made the Crusaders sweat-out the last minute with the advantage down to 7 and 50 seconds left. Donavan Foster would foul out, the third Titan to do so Sunday- and Valpo held on for the win. McCallum assisted Minnerath's effort with 16 points and three steals while Calliste chipped-in 10 points for UDM. Detroit will bring its next 4 games on the road, beginning Thursday at Cleveland State. Tip time is slated for 7:30 p.m. as start of a doubleheader with the women's team.Notes: Chris Blake made his first career Division I start . Eli Holman came off the bench for the start sentence in his 49 career games as a Titan . It was the low double-double for Minnerath . He becomes the third different Titan to read a double-double this season (Holman- 8, Ray McCallum- 1) . Minnerath's previous career-high in points was 21 (vs. Milwaukee- Jan. 1) . His old best in rebounds was a seven-board output (vs. Niagara, Nov. 28).