The Valparaiso University men’s basketball team erased a 13-point second-half deficit to take the lead midway through the period, but visiting Flagler broke a 67-all tie on an old-fashioned 3-point play with 0.9 seconds remaining to earn a 70-67 victory in exhibition action on Thursday night at the Athletics-Recreation Center.
Flagler, under the direction of former Valpo coaching staff member Chad Warner, is ranked No. 2 nationally in the NCAA Division-II preseason poll and has made a habit of knocking off Division-I teams, downing Central Michigan and topping North Florida last season.
How It Happened
- Valpo held an early 9-8 edge, before Flagler used a seven-point run capped by a Tyler Collier triple at the 10:38 mark to go ahead 15-9. Sophomore Sheldon Edwards (West Palm Beach, Fla. / Palm Beach Lakes [TLAP Sports Academy]) responded with a 3 of his own to slice the deficit in half, but the Saints scored the next six to make it 21-12 after a 13-3 burst.
- Valpo chipped away for the remainder of the half, and another Edwards triple got the Beacons back to within three at 29-26 with 1:28 to play until the break. The Saints led 34-30 when the halftime horn sounded.
- Flagler went on its biggest run of the day early in the second half. After an Edwards jumper made it 35-32 at the 18:53 mark, the Saints scored 10 straight points in a three-minute span to up the advantage to 13 at 45-32 with 15:54 to play.
- Fifth-year senior Kevion Taylor (Milwaukee, Wis. / Whitnall [Winona State]) stemmed the tide with a triple, then Preston Ruedinger (Oshkosh, Wis. / Lourdes Academy) buried one from long range to slim the lead to seven.
- The Beacons scored eight straight points to get even in the middle part of the second half. A pair of Edwards 3s were sandwiched around a layup by Emil Freese-Vilien (Copenhagen, Denmark / Falkonergardens Gymnasium) to account for the largest Valpo run of the evening. The second Edwards trey leveled the score at 46 with 11:17 to play.
- Senior Thomas Kithier (Macomb, Mich. / Clarkston [Michigan State]) drained a go-ahead triple at the 10:26 mark, and the lead continued to seesaw for much of the half’s duration. Taylor had two 3s within a minute of one another, the second of which gave Valpo its largest lead at 61-54 with 5:18 remaining.
- Flagler’s Jaizec Lottie made a go-ahead 3 with 1:39 to go, then Edwards responded with a game-tying basket to create a 67-all deadlock with 33 seconds on the clock.
- An offensive rebound extended the ensuing Flagler possession, setting up a putback by Kohl Roberts with 0.9 on the clock. He was also fouled on the shot, and completed the 3-point-play to account for the final three-point margin.
Inside the Game
- Edwards led the team in scoring for the second straight exhibition, pouring in 19 points to pace four Beacons in double figures. He was joined by Taylor (15), Trevor Anderson (10) (Stevens Point, Wis. / SPASH [Wisconsin]) and Kithier (10).
- Kithier squeezed a game-high 16 rebounds to secure his second-straight exhibition double-double. Five of his boards came on the offensive glass.
- The majority of Valpo’s damage from the field came from long range, as 31 of the team’s 48 field-goal attempts were from distance. The Beacons made 11 3s and eight 2s in the game, while shooting 85.7 percent (18-of-21) at the free-throw line.
- Ruedinger led the team in plus-minus for the second straight exhibition as the Beacons outscored the Saints by nine when the freshman was on the court.
Postgame Press Conference
Click here for postgame press conference.
Up Next
Valpo will tip off the regular season on Tuesday, Nov. 9 vs. Toledo at 6 p.m. at the Athletics-Recreation Center. For ticket information, visit valpoathletics.com/tickets. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Todd Ickow and Jamie Stangel on the call. In addition, the radio call can be heard on 95.1 FM Valparaiso, WVUR and the TuneIn Radio app.
