Jan. 16, 2010
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VALPARAISO, Indiana - Jeremy Montgomery and Trevon Harmon scored 20 points each, but a cold-shooting period midway through the first half allowed Valparaiso to build a double-figure first half lead and then hold off the Vikings, 78-71, on Saturday afternoon in the Athletics-Recreation Center on the Valpo campus.
The loss, CSU's second this week, drops the Vikings to 7-12 overall and 3-4 in league play. Valparaiso, which defeated CSU for the first time in 16 years, improved to 8-11 overall and 3-4.
"I usually talk to my team for 15 minutes or so after a game and we dissect what we did right and what we did wrong," CSU head coach Gary Waters said. "Today, I just told them to come together for a team prayer because there is nothing that we can do when you have to play five on eight.
"We've had bad games called before this, but this is the first time that I am totally dumbfounded. It takes away everything that we try to do. Our guys then get tentative and commit lapses defensively because they are worried about whether the whistle is going to blow."
"I don't want to take anything away from the way Valpo played today because they played hard, and they played together. They've got a bunch of young guys who played with a lot of heart and energy and it showed," Waters added.
The Vikings were whistled for 20 fouls in the contest, seven in the first half and 13 in the second half, while Valpo was called for 12 fouls, eight coming in the second half. The timing of the fouls was the issue as CSU was for four fouls in the first four minutes of the game and it the 7:37 mark of the first half before Valpo picked up its first team foul.
The second half was similar as the Crusaders picked up just one foul in the first 10 minutes with the Vikings being called for six.
Harmon and Montgomery led the CSU offense with each making four treys in the game, Harmon going four-for-eight from beyond the arc while Montgomery was four-for-11. Norris Cole added 14 points, raising his career scoring total to 957 points, while D'Aundray Brown had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Brandon McPherson paced the Crusaders with 21 points while Brandon Wood added 15, Cory Johnson 15 and Ryan Broekhoff came off the bench to score 13.
The big difference in the game was the shooting as Valpo connected on 29 of its 51 field goal attempts (.569) and was eight-for-20 from three-point (.400). CSU could manage just .394 shooting (26-66) and was eight-for-26 from three-point (.308).
The Crusaders took control of the game midway through the first half.
After Montgomery scored in the lane to even the game at 12-12 with 11;51 left, Valpo an off 11 straight points, most coming on open perimeter jumpers, to pull ahead, 23-12 with 9:18 left.
CSU would close to within seven on several occasions, but cold-shooting prevented the Vikings from putting a further dent into the deficit. Valpo would lead by as many as a dozen as a three-pointer from Tommy Kurth and a pair of free throws from Cory Johhnson would turn a seven point contest into a 30-18 Crusader lead with 4:41 left.
The Vikings closed to within 36-28 on a three-pointer by Montgomery with 26 seconds left, but Ryan Broekhoff tipped in a missed trey by Wood to give Valo a 38-28 lead at the break.
CSU was just 11-for-32 from the field in the first half (.344), including four-for-14 from three-point (.286) while Valparaiso was 15-for-27 (.556), including five-for-11 from three-point (.455).
CSU closed to within 53-50 with 10:25 left on a basket inside by Cole, but Valpo answered with a 10-1 run to take a 63-51 lead with 6:14 left. The Crusaders attempted six free throws during the spurt.
With Harmon at one point scoring 11 straight points for the Vikings, CSU fought back to draw to within 68-64 on a pair of free throws with 3:09 left but Valparaiso answered with six straight points as the Vikings were whistled for four straight turnovers, three on traveling and one on a offensive foul, to allow the Crusaders to put the game away.
CSU had one last gasp when Harmon knocked down a long three-pointer with 13 seconds left to close to with 75-71, but Valpo made three free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
With Cole making a game-high four steals, CSU forced 16 Valpo turnovers and made 12 steals while committing just 13 turnovers. CSU also had a 36-34 lead on the boards.
Cleveland State returns home to close the first half of the league schedule when the two Wisconsin schools visit the Wolstein Center. The Vikings will host Green Bay on Friday (Jan. 22) at 7:00 p.m. and Milwaukee on Sunday (Jan. 24) at 2:00 p.m.
