VALPARAISO, Ind. – Anton Grady recorded his ninth double-double of the season, but Valparaiso used a strong showing at the free throw line in the second half to hold off Cleveland State, 60-55, in the semifinals of the Horizon League Championship on Saturday night at the Athletics & Recreation Center.
CSU dropped to 18-14 overall, while the Crusaders improved to 27-5 and move to the championship game to face second-seeded Green Bay who beat UIC in tonight's other semifinal.
"I thought our kids played hard enough to win tonight," head coach Gary Waters said. "Those are two pretty even teams, but we didn't capitalize on some opportunities down the stretch. It's hard to overcome a 21-3 advantage at the free throw line in the second half, but I was happy with the way we battled all game.
"I thought Alec (Peters) was very good today for them. He was physical and completing plays. He's a great percentage player."
Grady finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high six assists to lead the Vikings, while Charlie Lee and Trey Lewis scored 10 points each.
Peters led all scorers with 22 points and added eight rebounds.
Darian Walker scored the first seven points of the game, forcing an early CSU timeout just 1:19 into the contest. However, the Vikings went to Grady out of the timeout and he responded, scoring eight points to lead a 10-2 CSU run that gave the Vikings their first lead of the night (10-9) on his jumper five minutes in.
The Crusaders would score seven straight to break a 15-15 tie and gain a 22-15 lead with 5:52 to play in the half.
But Grady and Lee combined for 10 points to give the Vikings a 25-24 lead on a Grady jumper with just over two minutes left in the half before the Crusaders scored five of the final seven points of the half to take a 29-27 lead at the intermission.
Valpo scored three quick baskets to start the second half and take a 36-31 lead four minutes in, but the Crusaders would manage just three made field goals the rest of the half. However, they were able to get to the free throw line 21 times, knocking down 17.
Valpo built a nine-point lead two times in the second half, the final one coming on two free throws from Vashil Fernandez which gave the Crusaders a 50-41 lead with 7:28 left.
But a Lewis three-pointer with 3:57 to play capped a 9-2 run that brought the Vikings within 52-50 with four minutes left. After Fernandez split a pair of free throws, Lewis nailed a three-pointer at the top of the key to knot the contest at 53-53 with two minutes left.
The Crusaders scored five straight points to open a 58-53 lead with 16 seconds left. Grady answered with a bucket on the other end and was fouled and missed the free throw, but CSU secured the offensive rebound, but could not convert and Jubril Adekoya made a pair of free throws with three seconds left to seal the game.
