The Valparaiso University men’s basketball team outscored Toledo by 11 after halftime, but a slow start was too much to overcome in a season-opening 85-70 setback at Savage Arena in Toledo, Ohio. The play of Quinton Green (Columbus, Ohio / Homeschool [Cedarville]) in his Beacon debut was a major bright spot as he drilled five 3s en route to a team-high 20 points.

Valpo shot 68 percent after halftime in a game against a team that won 47 games over the last two seasons, captured back-to-back Mid-American Conference regular-season titles and boasted four returning starters.  

How It Happened

• Green and Kobe King (La Crosse, Wis. / La Crosse Central [Wisconsin]) each had early baskets as Toledo held a slim 6-4 edge 2:30 in. That’s when the Rockets scored the next 15 points to sprint out to a 17-point lead at 21-4 with 11:56 left in the first half before Green tallied a bucket to stem the tide.
• By halftime, the hosts’ lead had reached 26 at 52-26. Toledo shot 52.6 percent in the first 20 minutes, while Valpo was held to 32.4 percent and committed nine turnovers.
• The Beacons started the second half with a 6-1 spurt that included baskets by Jerome Palm (Almere, Netherlands / Echnaton [Hillsborough CC]), Nick Edwards (Atlanta, Ga. / Grayson [Glenville State]) and King. The Edwards bucket came on a fastbreak following a steal.
• Green had a big second half, including a trey despite being fouled that cut the lead to 20 with 5:40 remaining. He went to the free-throw line and completed the 4-point play to whittle the lead to 19. A Ben Krikke (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada / Jasper Place) hook shot a moment later reduced the lead to 17 at 78-61.
• Krikke, King and Green all played well down the stretch, with King’s basket with 1:07 to go cutting the deficit to 15, the closest Valpo came after halftime.
• The Beacons outscored the Rockets 44-33 in the second stanza. After an uncharacteristic first half, Krikke returned to form after the break by scoring 13 second-half points on 6-of-7 shooting. As a team, Valpo shot lights out in the second half (19-of-28, 67.9 percent), scoring 26 points in the paint while also hitting at a 4-of-7 clip from 3.

Inside the Game

• Krikke pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds, his first double-figure output on the glass since a career-high 15 on Jan. 24, 2021 at Illinois State. The rebounds came as part of Krikke’s second career double-double as he finished with 18 points, 13 of which came after halftime.
• Green also scored 13 second-half points on 4-of-6 shooting, as the former Cedarville standout posted a team-high 20 points in his Valpo debut. His five triples tied a career high that he reached twice during his four-year career with the Yellow Jackets, most recently on Feb. 3, 2022.
• This marked the 18^th 20-point output of Green’s collegiate career. Green was the first Valpo player with five 3s in a game since Sheldon Edwards on Feb. 16 of last season vs. Loyola.
• King finished with 15 points, marking the 25^th double-figure scoring output of his collegiate career and his 20^th at Valpo.
• Edwards had eight points on an efficient 4-of-6 shooting to go along with a team-high five assists.
• Edwards, Green, Palm and Cam Palesse (Waukesha, Wis. / Waukesha West) all made their Valpo debuts on Monday. The Beacons played without four scholarship players as Ibra Bayu, Maximus Nelson, Preston Ruedinger (Oshkosh, Wis. / Lourdes Academy) and Connor Barrett (Chicago, Ill. / Loyola Academy) were all sidelined. Only two players – Darius DeAviero (Kanata, Ottawa, Canada / Orangeville Prep) and Emil Freese-Vilien (Copenhagen, Denmark / Falkonergardens Gymnasium)– played in both last season’s opener vs. Toledo and this year’s lidlifter against the Rockets.
• Toledo, ranked No. 4 in the CollegeInsiders.com Mid-Major Preseason Poll, won 112 games over the last five years (28^th most in the country) and 47 over the last two years (18^th most in the country). They are now 30-3 in their last 33 home games and have won 12 straight home openers.
• The Rockets are receiving votes in both the USA Today Coaches’ Poll and the AP Top 25.

Up Next

Valpo (0-1) will welcome Western Michigan to the Athletics-Recreation Center for a 4 p.m. tipoff on Sunday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with links to live video, audio and stats available on ValpoAthletics.com.