Box score (.pdf)
Box score (.html)

VALPARAISO, Ind.--   Chase Simon scored a game-high 22 points and Ray McCallum added 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists but host Valparaiso held-off Detroit for an 82-74 win at the Athletics-Recreation Center Thursday night.  The Crusaders had a balanced attack with Cory Johnson scoring 19 with 17 apiece from Ryan Broekhoff and Brandon Wood to keep its half-game lead atop the Horizon League standings.

Detroit (14-13, 8-7) led by as many as nine in the first half, running out to a 23-14 advantage thanks to 10 quick points by Simon.  The junior guard hit his first four shots from the floor, including a pair from deep.  Valpo (18-7, 10-3) eased back into it and eventually re-took the lead and claimed a slim 34-32 leg-up at the break.

The Titans then had to counter an 8-0 Valpo run early in the second stanza with a 9-0 spurt of their own, but the Crusaders then rattled off seven straight to take the lead for good.  Sparked by nine second-half points from Donavan Foster, UDM closed to within six a handful of times, but the Crusaders had an answer each time.

Detroit's best chance to regain control came when McCallum hit a big three in front of his own bench to slice it to six and Eli Holman netted a pair from the line to make it 73-69 with 2:37 remaining.  Johnson scored a layup and later had three free throw makes keeping Detroit at bay.  

Holman scored 14 points andgrabbed seven rebounds off the bench for Detroit.  Foster had nine points and four assists while Minnerath was held to just one field goal in the loss.

The Titans will make the trek down I-65 to battle Butler University on Saturday night in a nationally-televised affair.  The game will be aired on ESPN2 and webcast on espn3.com.