YSU loses, 67-59, to Valparaiso

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VINDICATOR STAFF/WIRE REPORT

VALPARAISO, Ind. — Howard Little scored 13 points to lead five Crusaders in double figures and Valparaiso used a second-half spurt to beat Youngstown State 67-59 Saturday night in the Horizon League.

Urule Igbavboa, Cameron Witt and Michael Rogers had 12 each for Valpo (9-21, 5-13), which trailed 24-20 at the break. Erik Buggs scored 10. Igbavboa had nine rebounds and Rogers had eight for the Crusaders, who were outrebounded 37-27.

Sirlester Martin had 13 points and DeAndre Mays 11 for Youngstown State (11-18, 7-11) in a game that included six ties and five lead changes.

Mays also led the Penguins with seven rebounds and four assists; unfortunately, he also had the team high with six turnovers.

Igbavboa led the Crusaders with nine rebounds and Rogers had eight. but Youngstown State held a 37-27 edge on the boards.

The last tie came at 43 at 8:53, after which the Crusaders went on a 17-6 run to take an 11-point lead. Youngstown State got no closer than five after that.

The Penguins scored eight straight points over a five-minute span in the first half to bolt from a 7-7 tie to a 15-7 lead with 9:48 remaining.

Martin hit a jump shot to start the rally, then Jack Liles scored to make it 11-7 with 13:15 to go.

Zack Rebillot made a pair of free throws and Kelvin Bright added two more at the charity stripe to give the Penguins the eight-point lead.

Rogers hit a 3-pointer for Valparaiso with 9:14 remaining to stop the Penguins’ run, but a Mays free throw gave YSU a 16-10 lead with 7:55 remaining.

Howard Little sank two free throws for Valparaiso, then Tom Parks answered for YSU with a jump shot to make it 18-12 with 6:58 remaining.

Vance Cooksey then sank a 3-pointer for the Penguins, giving them a nine-point lead, 21-12, their largest of the game, with 5:44 to go.

The Crusaders began to rally, finally getting to 24-20 at the break on a layup by Igbavboa.

Youngstown State will play host to Illinois-Chicago in the first round of the Horizon League tournament on Tuesday at the Beeghly Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.