Broekhoff lifts VU men over Detroit

VALPARAISO | With 4:04 remaining in Thursday's Horizon League thriller against Detroit, Valparaiso sharp-shooter Ryan Broekhoff hesitated for a split second behind the 3-point line.

He had a Titan in his face, but it didn't matter. Broekhoff let his sixth 3-point shot of the night fly from the right wing. And just like the five before, it found nothing but net.

That broke the final tie of the game, and the Crusaders held on for a 78-73 victory before 3,488 at the Athletics-Recreation Center.

"The ball kind of slid a little bit in my hand and didn't feel comfortable," Broekhoff said. "I wanted to make sure I had the right grip, and it was in my shooting pocket. I didn't want to rush it."

Broekhoff seemed comfortable all night. He finished with a career-high 26 points, going 8-for-9 from the field and 6-for-6 from beyond the arc. He also had five rebounds and three steals.

Broekhoff started each half with an early 3-pointer, always a good sign for the junior from Australia. His fifth 3-pointer, well behind the top of the key, gave Valpo a 64-62 advantage with 5:38 remaining. It was the Crusaders' first lead since 32-31 late in the first half.

"The whole season I've kind of been struggling with my shot," Broekhoff said. "I've just been putting in extra work on getting my shooting back to where it was last year."

It was hardly a one-man show for the Crusaders.

Richie Edwards filled in admirably for a foul-plagued Kevin Van Wijk, scoring 16 points while battling underneath against Detroit's 6-foot-10 Eli Holman and LaMarcus Lowe. It was the most points for Richie since he scored 18 against Butler on Dec. 3, and comes on the heels of his two-technical ejection Saturday at Milwaukee.

"I just felt like I kind of let my team down on Saturday," Edwards said. "I wanted to come back and show my teammates I was there for them."

The Crusaders (16-8, 9-3) survived a first-half dunk fest by the Titans (12-12, 6-6).

Detroit had five jams in the first half, including an incredible play by Doug Anderson with 33 seconds remaining before the break. Anderson jumped from the bottom of the free throw circle, over Van Wijk and slammed it home with authority while being fouled.

The Titans shot 61.5 percent in the first half on their way to a 45-36 lead at the break. It was close the whole way, with Valpo taking a 32-31 lead on a Will Bogan 3-pointer with 4:23 remaining before the Titans finished on a 14-4 run punctuated by Anderson's play.

Detroit's biggest lead was 49-39 early in the second half on an Anderson 3-pointer. But the Crusaders switched to a zone most of the second half, taking away some of the outside game while making it difficult for the Titans to get the ball inside to Holman.

"Our team really executed the zone the last few games," Valpo coach Bryce Drew said. "They were so hot, we figured we would try the zone, and thank the Lord in the second half they missed some shots, and we got some rebounds."

Valpo continued chipping away at the lead throughout the second half, executing well offensively by getting good inside looks for Van Wijk (10 points) and Edwards.

In the closing minutes, Valpo converted 7-of-10 free throws while forcing two Detroit turnovers and several missed shots over the zone defense. Detroit finished 26-of-55 overall (47.3 percent).

"What an exciting game," Drew said. "We've been watching Detroit on film, and we thought it was the best they were playing all year. I think they came out and pretty much blasted us in the first half. They were more aggressive, executed better than we were.

"But at halftime I thought our guys really dug in and came out to play with a lot of heart."