Thursday, February 03, 2005

Indianapolis, Ind. – Ron Howard scored six of his team-high 14 points in the final 1:34 and Valpo survived a 3-point attempt at the buzzer to defeat IUPUI 64-61 at Conseco Fieldhouse. Shawn Huff added 11 points and eight rebounds for Valpo and Seth Colclasure netted 11 points. Kenny Harris scored 10 points, including six during a 10-0 second half run.

Howard made two free throws with 9.4 seconds left to give Valpo a 63-59 lead. After IUPUI’s George Hill made a layup, Colclasure was fouled and drained one of two free throws with 6.8 seconds left. Brandon Cole missed a long 3-pointer at the buzzer. Valpo (10-11, 6-3 Mid-Con) extended its winning streak to three and is now 4-1 in Mid-Con road games. IUPUI (10-10, 4-5) has lost three straight.

In the first half, the defenses dominated as Valpo limited IUPUI to 24 percent shooting (7 for 29). The Crusaders, which shot 32 percent, took their first lead (13-12) at the 9:50 mark on Howard’s reverse layup. After IUPUI took the lead back with a short jumper, Harris, Dan Oppland and Huff each made baskets during a 6-0 run to give the Crusaders a 19-14 lead with 4:48 remaining.

IUPUI’s Troy Shanks stopped Valpo’s run with a 3-pointer from the left wing. After Moussa Mbaye’s two free throws pushed the Valpo lead to 22-17, the Jaguars went on a 5-0 run to tie the game at 22-22 with 1:00 left on Akeem Clark’s 3-pointer. Colclasure’s 10-foot jumper in the lane with 23 seconds left gave Valpo a 24-22 halftime lead.

Huff netted five points to lead the Crusaders’ first-half scoring, while Johnny Miller’s seven points topped the Jaguars. IUPUI hurt itself in the first half at the free throw line, converting 5-of-12 charity tosses.

Valpo hosts Centenary Saturday at 7:05 p.m.