Feb. 9, 2012
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes
Contact: Greg Murphy
Video has no source Url in width="269" height="217">
Video has no source Url in width="269" height="217">
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Jeremy Montgomery scored 15 points, but Valparaiso jumped out to a quick lead in the first half and defeated Cleveland State, 59-41, on Thursday night in the Wolstein Center.
The loss drops the Vikings to 20-5 overall and 10-3 in the Horizon League. Valparaiso improved to 18-8 overall and took over first place in the league by one-half game over CSU at 11-3.
"We just didn't play very well," head coach Gary Waters said. "When you score 41 points and shoot 25 percent, it's hard to beat anyone. We missed nine lay-ups and if we make those, we're in the game. It's not like we don't practice that. Valparaiso beat us on bench points and we gave up 11 three's and that is not who we are.
"You have to give Valparaiso credit. They did a good job of running their offense and they ran it for a lengthy period of time. When they executed their offense, they ran about 25 seconds off the shot clock so we were running and chasing for 25 seconds. You can't have a breakdown, and we were breaking down and they were popping out and hitting three-pointers. Combine that with missing nine lay-ups, and you just can't have that."
Montgomery was the lone CSU player to reach double figures. Trey Harmon added seven points and Anton Grady added five points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots before fouling out.
Aaron Pogue added three rebounds, raising his career total to 502. He is just the 19th player in CSU history to grab 500 rebounds in a career.
Ryan Broehkoff was the story at the start of the contest, scoring Valparaiso's first 11 points to highlight a 17-1 to open the game.
CSU didn't hit its first field goal of the game until a Harmon three-pointer at the 11:39 mark cut Valpo's lead to 17-4. However, Richie Edwards answered with a three-pointer on the other end and Ben Boggs converted a layup to push the lead to 18 points (22-4).
The lead reached as many as 20 points with 4:33 left in the half (28-8), but back-to-back baskets by Tim Kamczyc helped spark a 9-1 run for the Vikings to close the half and slice the deficit to 29-17 after 20 minutes.
However, Broekhoff and Will Bogan opened the second half with consecutive three pointers as part of a 9-2 run that pushed the Crusader lead back to 19 points (38-19) with just over 17 minutes to play.
"When they hit three-pointers, it just cuts your spirit out," Waters said. "We talked about it at halftime and they came out and started the second half with two more three's and that was the ballgame."
The Crusaders finished the game 11-of-22 (.500) from three-point, while CSU hit just 1-of-13 (.077).
Ironically, Valparaiso hit only 7-of-21 shots from inside the three-point arc.
The Vikings are back in action on Saturday (Feb. 11) when CSU hosts Butler at 11:00 a.m. on ESPN2.
Cleveland State vs. Valparaiso
February 9, 2012 - Wolstein Center
Game Notes
• Today was the 39th all-time meeting between the two schools. CSU still leads the series, 28-11, but the Crusaders won both meetings this year. Valpo earned a 72-66 decision at home on Jan. 15.
• Valapraiso took over possession of first place of the Horizon League with the win, improving to 11-3. The Crusaders hold a one-half game lead over Cleveland State (10-3) with just over two weeks left in the regular season. CSU still hosts Butler, Detroit and Wright State and travels to Milwaukee and Green Bay this year. Valparaiso plays at Youngstown State and hosts Loyola, UIC and Butler to conclude the regular season.
• CSU hit a three-pointer for the 425th straight game, a continuing school record.
• Jeremy Montgomery played in his 130th straight game, tying J'Nathan Bullock for second place on the all-time list in school history.
• The Vikings trailed at the half for the first time in five games. The last time CSU was down after 20 minutes was Jan. 15 when the Vikings trailed, 29-25, at Valapraiso. It was just the sixth time all season that CSU trailed at the half.
• D'Aundray Brown returned to the starting lineup after missing the last game at UIC (Feb. 3) with a groin injury. He played eight minutes in the first half, but did not play in the second half.
• Anton Grady blocked five shots before fouling out. It was the 10th time this year that he had multiple blocks in a game.
• Tonight's crowd of 4,521 was the second largest home crowd of the year, topped only by the 4,739 against Akron on Dec. 10.
• Valparaiso shot 11-of-22 from three-point, while the Vikings managed just 1-of-13.
• Ryan Broehkoff (24) and Richie Edwards (20) combined for 44 of Valpo's 59 points.
