Valparaiso University men’s basketball senior Kobe King (La Crosse, Wis. / La Crosse Central) surpassed the 1,000-point milestone for his collegiate career in the second half of Tuesday’s game at the Athletics-Recreation Center. King reached the milestone as part of his game-high 17 points in a 74-59 setback to visiting Belmont.

How It Happened

• Belmont jumped out to a 6-2 lead, but Valpo rattled off nine straight points to grab an 11-6 edge following a Nick Edwards (Atlanta, Ga. / Grayson [Glenville State]) basket on a Ben Krikke (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada / Jasper Place) assist.
• The Bruins held a 15-14 lead at the second media timeout, but Maximus Nelson (Appleton, Wis. / Appleton North) drilled a 3 with 10:41 left in the half to put the hosts back in front 17-15.
• After the Nelson 3, Belmont scored 17 straight points to take a 32-17 lead with 5:12 left in the half. The Beacons battled back with a 7-0 run of their own late in the half, capped by an Ibra Bayu (Flevoland, The Netherlands / Perkiomen) dunk that whittled the lead to six with 13 seconds on the clock. The guests scored the final basket of the half to enter the locker room leading by eight.
• At the 13:41 mark of the second half, King made his milestone basket to reach the 1,000-point threshold. He was recognized with a nice ovation during the next media timeout.
• The lead fluctuated between seven and 12 early in the second half, but Belmont eventually pushed the gap to 16 with 12:08 on the clock.
• The two teams played close to even the rest of the way with Valpo getting no closer than 12 and eventually falling by 15.

Inside the Game

• King was joined in double figures by Krikke, who tallied 15 points. Krikke has scored 15 or more in 14 of his 18 appearances this season.
• Krikke advanced another place on the program’s all-time scoring list, passing Chuck Kriston (1960-63; 1,287) for 18^th.
• King was in double figures yet again as he has scored 10 or more points in all 18 games this season.
• King became the third person currently involved with Valpo’s program to score his 1,000^th collegiate point with the Brown & Gold, joining Krikke and current graduate assistant Tevonn Walker.
• Edwards stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, nine assists and four rebounds. That marked his high for assists in a Missouri Valley Conference game.
• Sixth-year senior Quinton Green (Columbus, Ohio / Homeschool [Cedarville]) continued his recent thievery, tying a career high with four steals. Green has three or more steals in each of his last three games and has 11 total steals in that span – over doubling his season total after he had 10 total steals over the first 15 games.

Postgame Comments

Click here for postgame press conference.

Up Next

Valpo (6-12, 0-7 MVC) will visit Evansville on Saturday at 3 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.