Jan. 4, 2013
Contact: Greg Murphy
Follow the Vikings on TWITTER
CSU Athletics on YouTube
Follow Sports Information on TWITTER
Become a Fan on Facebook
VALPARAISO, Ind. - Luda Ndaye scored a career-high 15 points, but cold shooting from the field hurt the Vikings in a 74-50 loss at Valparaiso in the Horizon League opener for CSU on Friday night.
CSU slipped to 8-7 this year, while Valparaiso improved to 11-5 overall and 1-1 in league play.
Ndaye, whose previous career-high was seven points, hit 7-of-12 from the field and added six rebounds. Bryan Forbes scored 12 points, while Marlin Mason had six points and eight rebounds.
The Crusaders stormed out to a 12-1 lead over the first five minutes, but the Vikings answered with a 13-3 run to pull within one (15-14) on a Junior Lomomba jumper at the 7:32 mark.
However, the Vikings struggled to maintain that offensive rhythm the remainder of the half, recording just one field goal and two free throws to go into the locker room down, 35-18.
The Crusaders, meanwhile, used the hot shooting of Will Bogan to close the final seven minutes on a 20-4 run to take the 17 point halftime advantage. Bogan keyed the run with eight points, including a pair of three-pointers, while Matt Kenney and Jordan Coleman also hit three's and Ryan Broekhoff contributed a three-point play.
Bogan finished with 10 first half points.
The Crusaders extended the lead to 40-19 on a Broekhoff three-pointer just over two minutes into the second half and maintained a 20-point advantage for a majority of the second half.
Kenney led the Crusaders with 14 points, while Bogan finished with 13. Broekhoff had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
CSU shot just 15-of-50 (.300) for the game, but did hit 19-of-23 (.826) from the free throw line after missing 13 attempts on Wednesday night.
Valpo held a 43-27 advantage on the boards.
The Vikings are back in action on Monday (Jan. 7) when CSU hosts UIC at 6:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center.