Valparaiso, Ind. - Seth Colclasure made five, 3-point baskets and scored a career-high 20 points as Valpo defeated Oakland 82-71. Valpo (8-11, 4-3 Mid-Con), which drained 10 treys, placed five players in double figures. Ron Howard had his first career double-double with 15 points and 10 assists.
Valpo remained perfect (15-0) in the all-time series with Oakland.
Dan Oppland, the leading scorer in the Mid-Con entering the night, scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds for Valpo. Kenny Harris netted 10 points, making 4-of-5 shots, and Shawn Huff added 10 points, which included two consecutive 3-pointers to extend a one-point lead to seven late in the first half.
Cortney Scott led Oakland (5-12, 3-4) with 19 points and eight rebounds, while Rawle Marshall added 18 points and four steals.
For the third straight game, Valpo shot above 50 percent, converting 54 percent (23 of 43). The nation's leader in 3-point field goal percentage (44.1), the Crusaders made 10 of 20 from beyond the arc.
In the first 20 minutes, the game featured six lead changes and four ties. Valpo led by as many as six in the early going behind Oppland's seven points. Oakland went on a 10-2 run to take a two-point lead with 11:36 left as Marshall scored six points during the stretch.
Colclasure and Jim Hooper each swished 3-pointers to give the Crusaders a 24-19 lead with 8:33 remaining. Scott then sparked the Golden Grizzlies with eight points during an 11-3 run to return the lead (30-27) to Oakland with 4:47 left before halftime.
Trailing 32-31, Huff ignited a 13-3 Valpo run with eight points, including the two key treys. The Crusaders held a 44-37 lead at halftime as Huff had all 10 of his points before intermission.
A 10-0 Valpo run to begin the second half put Valpo in control 54-37 with 15:01 remaining. Colclasure made two, 3-pointers and Harris added two layups during the important scoring spree.
Colclasure drained his fifth trey of the game to expand the advantage to 18 points (57-39) at the 13:42 mark. A three-point play by Harris gave Valpo its largest lead of 19 (60-41).
Oakland eventually trimmed its deficit to nine points (72-63) with 4:05 left as Marshall scored 10 of his points in the second half. Howard scored four points during an 8-0 run to push the lead to 17 (80-63) with just over two minutes left.
Howard, who dished out a career-high 11 assists on Saturday against Western Illinois, had consecutive games of double-digit assist totals for the first time in his career. Colclasure led Valpo with three steals.
Valpo made 26 of 36 free throws (72 percent) to Oakland's 15 of 22 (68 percent). After Oakland made 52 percent of its shots in the first half, the Crusaders limited the Golden Grizzlies to a 35 percent clip in the second half. Oakland made 2-of-18 shots from 3-point territory. The Golden Grizzlies had a 32-31 edge in rebounds.
The Crusaders travel to play Southern Utah on Thursday at 8:05 p.m. CT (7:05 MT). The game can be heard on WVUR-FM (95.1), WEFM (95.9) or at www.valpo.edu.
