Crusaders cruise into Wright State game on a roll

VALPARAISO | A guy you've probably never heard of provided perhaps the most jaw-dropping play by a Valparaiso opponent during Thursday's game at the Athletics-Recreation Center.

Detroit's Doug Anderson, a muscular 6-foot-6 junior, took off from the bottom of the free throw circle and rose over Valpo's Kevin Van Wijk for a powerful dunk. Anderson also drew the foul and converted the free throw, sparking the Titans to a nine-point halftime lead.

It was the No. 1 "Play of the Day" on ESPN's SportsCenter. It was one of seven dunks by Detroit, the most physically intimidating team in the Horizon League.

But the Crusaders stayed composed, worked well together on offense and used a zone defense to take away the inside while coming back from a 10-point deficit to post a 78-73 victory. Even Van Wijk made amends, coming up with two huge blocked shots during the closing minutes.

Valpo's 12-of-22 performance from the 3-point line was a big factor. Ryan Broekhoff led the way, going 6-for-6 to tie a school record set by Jared Nuness in 1997 against Belmont for number of 3-pointers taken without a miss.

They'll need more of that tonight, as the Crusaders (16-8, 9-3) try to hold serve on their home court in another Horizon League game against Wright State (11-13, 6-6).

Valpo lost to the middle-of-the-pack Raiders in Dayton, 73-55, on Jan. 8.

"It's time to send a bit of a statement that was just an off game," said Broekhoff, who finished with a career-high 26 against Detroit.

"That wasn't a real Valpo team. We're going to come out Saturday and show that."

Since a crushing 57-55 loss at home against Milwaukee, the Crusaders have won eight of 10 conference games. The Crusaders are alone in second place, two games up in the loss column on three teams and just one game behind Cleveland State, which played at last-place Loyola on Friday night.

The Horizon League rewards its top two teams as much as any conference in the nation when it comes to the league tournament. No. 1 and No. 2 each receive a double-bye into the semifinals, with the top team serving as host.

Valpo coach Bryce Drew isn't looking ahead that far yet, at least publicly. He continues to recite the company line of taking each game one at a time.

"In our conference, every team can win on every given night," Drew said. "Our guys know that if they don't play their best, it's not going to be a good result."

After allowing Detroit to shoot 61.5 percent in the first half, Valpo's zone seemed to frustrate Detroit. The Titans shot just 34.5 percent in the second half, including just two field goals in the final five minutes.

"We do fight and we do try to protect our rim as best we can," Broekhoff said. "We adjusted to little things and made sure we were quicker on rotations and double teams in the post, which made them more into a jump-shooting team. That really helped us in the end.

Offensively, Valpo had 17 assists on 24 baskets. Erik Buggs had four, many on looks inside to Kevin Van Wijk, Richie Edwards (16 points) and Matt Kenney after beating Detroit's press.

Wright State lost at Butler, 64-53 on Thursday night. The Raiders are led by 6-2 junior guard Julius Mays (14.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg) and freshman guard Reggie Arceneaux (8.6 ppg).