Wednesday, February 20
Valparaiso, Ind.
7 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
52
at
55
Valparaiso
1
2
F
Southern Illinois
28
24
52
Valparaiso
24
31
55
Valpo holds off Southern Illinois, 55-52
02/20/2019 | 9:19:00 | Men's Basketball
VALPARAISO, Ind. - Valparaiso took advantage of 12 second-half SIU turnovers and held off a late rally to beat the Southern Illinois men's basketball program 55-52 on Wednesday night at The ARC.
SIU (14-14, 7-8 MVC) committed 12 second-half turnovers, and Valparaiso (14-14, 7-8 MVC) took advantage to turn a four-point halftime lead for SIU into a nine-point Valpo lead with two minutes to play. SIU went on a quick 6-0 spurt and had two 3-pointers that would have tied the game in the closing seconds, but both were off the mark, and Valpo hung on to sweep the season series from the Salukis.
"There are three things tonight: 21 points off turnovers; we turned the ball over 19 times; and eight missed free throws," SIU head coach Barry Hinson said. "There's 29 points, and you shoot 4-for-15 from the 3-point line, and you only get beat by three? This one is going to sting for a while. This one hurts."
SIU shot 46 percent in the first half but struggled in the second half, shooting 30 percent from the field an 7-of-14 from the free throw line. Armon Fletcher scored a game-high 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting, and Marcus Bartley provided a spark off the bench with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting; but outside of that pair, the rest of the club shot 8-of-31 (26 percent) for the game.
"They had a lot to do with it," Hinson said. "You have to give them credit defensively. I don't recognize that team in the second half. Quite frankly, I haven't seen that (SIU) team since we played at Loyola."
Valpo's balanced offensive attack saw just two players reach double figures, but six players scored behind team leaders Derrik Smits (11 points) and Deion Lavender (10 points). Smits scored seven of his 11 points in the second half.
After SIU took a 28-24 lead into the break, Valpo opened the second half on a 9-0 run to take command of the game. SIU fought back to take the lead on a 360-degree breakaway dunk by Fletcher, but the Crusaders responded to that with an 8-0 run to seize back momentum. Valpo's biggest lead was 9 points after Lavender's driving layup with 2:07 left.
SIU's ensuing 6-0 run came entirely at the free throw line, capped by Aaron Cook's pair with 53 seconds left. The Salukis got a stop on the defensive end, but a pair of would-be game-tying 3-pointers were off the mark. Valpo missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 2 seconds left, but SIU's length-of-the-court in-bounds pass was too long, giving the Crusaders the win.Â
The game put both SIU and Valpo into a four-way tie for fifth place in the Missouri Valley Conference with three regular-season games to go. SIU hosts Loyola at 3 p.m. on Sunday at SIU Arena in a game that will be televised on ESPNU.Â
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SIU (14-14, 7-8 MVC) committed 12 second-half turnovers, and Valparaiso (14-14, 7-8 MVC) took advantage to turn a four-point halftime lead for SIU into a nine-point Valpo lead with two minutes to play. SIU went on a quick 6-0 spurt and had two 3-pointers that would have tied the game in the closing seconds, but both were off the mark, and Valpo hung on to sweep the season series from the Salukis.
"There are three things tonight: 21 points off turnovers; we turned the ball over 19 times; and eight missed free throws," SIU head coach Barry Hinson said. "There's 29 points, and you shoot 4-for-15 from the 3-point line, and you only get beat by three? This one is going to sting for a while. This one hurts."
SIU shot 46 percent in the first half but struggled in the second half, shooting 30 percent from the field an 7-of-14 from the free throw line. Armon Fletcher scored a game-high 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting, and Marcus Bartley provided a spark off the bench with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting; but outside of that pair, the rest of the club shot 8-of-31 (26 percent) for the game.
"They had a lot to do with it," Hinson said. "You have to give them credit defensively. I don't recognize that team in the second half. Quite frankly, I haven't seen that (SIU) team since we played at Loyola."
Valpo's balanced offensive attack saw just two players reach double figures, but six players scored behind team leaders Derrik Smits (11 points) and Deion Lavender (10 points). Smits scored seven of his 11 points in the second half.
After SIU took a 28-24 lead into the break, Valpo opened the second half on a 9-0 run to take command of the game. SIU fought back to take the lead on a 360-degree breakaway dunk by Fletcher, but the Crusaders responded to that with an 8-0 run to seize back momentum. Valpo's biggest lead was 9 points after Lavender's driving layup with 2:07 left.
SIU's ensuing 6-0 run came entirely at the free throw line, capped by Aaron Cook's pair with 53 seconds left. The Salukis got a stop on the defensive end, but a pair of would-be game-tying 3-pointers were off the mark. Valpo missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 2 seconds left, but SIU's length-of-the-court in-bounds pass was too long, giving the Crusaders the win.Â
The game put both SIU and Valpo into a four-way tie for fifth place in the Missouri Valley Conference with three regular-season games to go. SIU hosts Loyola at 3 p.m. on Sunday at SIU Arena in a game that will be televised on ESPNU.Â
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Team Stats
SIU
VALPO
FG%
.388
.431
3FG%
.267
.273
FT%
.556
.571
RB
36
32
TO
19
15
STL
9
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
18
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
1
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
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