No. 7 Valpo 89, No. 6 Missouri State 82
Box Score
ATTENDANCE: Today’s semifinal attendance
8,145 pushes the three-day tourney total attendance to
27,277.
MVC TOURNAMENT NOTES The Valparaiso Crusaders advance to the MVC Tournament championship game for the first time in their three years as member of the MVC.
Valparaiso also becomes the first No. 7 seed to advance to the championship. No. 7 seeds own a 20-43 in MVC Tournament history, including an 18-29 mark in St. Louis. Valparaiso improves its MVC Tournament record to 4-2 including a 1- 1 mark against Missouri State.
The Crusaders, winning their third straight game, improve their record to 19-15. It is the most wins at the school since VU posted a 24-9 mark in Matt Lottich’s first year as head coach in 2016-17. Valparaiso wins the season series against Missouri State, 2-1 and improves its series record against Bears to 10-19.
VALPARAISOO NOTES–Sophomore
Javon Freeman-Liberty records 14
th20-plus scoring game of season as he explodes for game high 29 points, including 23 in second half., along with nine rebound, five assists and three steals. He moved up to No. 7 on school single-season scoring list with 604 points, passing Dan Opland (577, 2004-05) and Tracy Gipson (595, 1992-93)…Senior
John Kiser added 17 points, including nine in the first half, Freshman reserve
Ben Krikke added 11 points, while freshman forward
Donovan Clay collected 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists. The Crusaders improve to 9-0 this season when scoring 80 or more points…also now 11-3 when leading at half. Valparaiso senior
John Kiser scored a career-high 17 points, thanks in part to a career-best 5 free throws. Valpo’s
Javon Freeman-Liberty led both teams in scoring and rebounds with 29 points and 9 rebounds.
Missouri State Notes: Missouri State, which had a two-game winning streak snapped, ends its season at 16-17. The Bears MVC Tournament record slips to 32-29 including an 8-9 record in the semifinal round and a 2-4 record as the No. 6 seed. Coach Dana Ford is 32-33 at the end of his second season at the MSU helm. The Bears put five players in double figures in their final contest of the season, led by senior
Keandre Cook with 26.
Gaige Prim had 12, Lamont West scored 15,
Isiaih Mosley had 11 and
Tulio Da Silva scored 11. The Bears had a 38-33 rebound margin, with Prim grabbing 8. MSU shot .484 (30/62) from the floor. MSU is 3-2 in those games with five double figure scorers. It was Cook’s 7
th 20-point game this season.
First Half: The game was tied at 6-6, 9-9 and 11-11 in the early going. Valpo jumped ahead 15-11 and the Bears then scored 12 in a row for a 23-15 lead at the 8:57 mark. The Crusaders took advantage of some open floor steals and a trey after a missed free VU throw to regain the lead at 29-28 with 4:40 to play. Valpo scored again but MSU got a 31-31 tie at the four-minute mark on a trey by Lamont West. Valpo got free throws in the late going to take a 40-38 halftime margin. Both teams hit just over 51 percent from the floor in the first half and each team hit 50 percent from the foul line. MSU enjoyed a slight 17-15 rebounds margin with Keandre Cook’s nine points for MSU and John Kiser’s nine for Valpo the game leaders. The Bears had a 28-9 advantage in bench points in the first half. Valpo is 10-3 when leading at halftime and 4-1 when scoring 40 or more in the first half. The Bears are 2-13 when trailing at halftime. Friday vs. Indiana State, the Bears got 21 points off turnovers and have but three off turnovers today. The Bears’ starting guards JaMonta Black and Ross Owens are 0/2 from the floor with no points and no assists. Valpo’s Ryan Fazekas had 25 points vs. MSU at Valpo, hit five treys in upset of Loyola Friday, and is shooting 0/4 with no points today.
Second Half: Julio DaSilva got the Bears even at 40-40 on MSU’s first possession of the half. A trey by Ryan Fazekas for his first points of the game shot Valpo ahead 50-44 and two quick steals in the backcourt were followed by baskets by Javon Freeman-Liberty and John Kiser and the Crusaders went up 55-46 with 15:32 left in the game. Kiser has a career-best 14 points and is now shooting 13/20 (.650) for this tournament. Freeman-Liberty and Kiser have 14 of Valpo’s first 17 points in the half. Valpo got its biggest lead at 57-46 with 15 minutes left. The Crusaders kept a double-digit margin for 10 minutes as they continued to connect from long range and take advantage of MSU turnovers. MSU closed within 76-69 at the four-minute mark. Valpo continues to score at the line but its last basket came at 7:03 and the Crusaders have missed seven shots to get under the two-minute mark. Freeman-Liberty snapped that string with a layup at 1:30. The Bears cashed free throws and two threes by Keandre Cook to close to within 85-82 with 20.6 seconds left. Valpo has missed eight of its last nine shots from the floor. Ben Krikke hit two free throws for Valpo at 19.4, the Bears could not convert on their end, and Valpo ended the game at the line.