Box Score
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Postgame Press Conference

VALPARAISO, Ind. -- A strong first half explosion led to a 93-76 victory for the Titans over Youngstown State in the second round of the Horizon League Playoffs Friday evening at the Athletics-Recreation Center in Valparaiso. Detroit moves on to face the No. 2 seed, Cleveland State, Saturday evening in the Semifinals at 6:00 p.m. (EST).

Five Titans finished in double figures as Ray McCallum led the way with a team-high 22 points along with seven assists.

The Titans had a first half explosion jumping out to an 11-3 lead in the first 3:48 of the contest.

Detroit led the entire first half as Doug Anderson scored two right off the tip and led 50-34 at the half.  The Titans were led by LaMarcus Lowe with 11 points and Simon, Jason Calliste and Anderson all with nine apiece at the break.

A Lowe block on the first possession for the Penguins led to a Chase Simon three-pointer and it was 5-0 early.

The Titans continued to pour it on as they took a 14-3 lead on Simon's second made three in the first five minutes. A Penguin turnover on the ensuing possession led to an Anderson dunk and a 16-3 lead with 15:11 to go in the opening frame.

It was still more Titans as they jumped out to a 27-10 edge after the second media timeout of the first half at 11:05 shooting a blistering 11-14 from the field.

The first half saw Lowe and Simon continue to shoot well as neither missed a shot from the field. Lowe netted 11 points and Simon had nine while the team went 17-28 (61%), including 5-10 from long distance and 11-15 from the free throw line. Ray McCallum added seven points, five assists and three rebounds at the break.

Youngstown State's Kendrick Perry, the Horizon League's leading scorer, took just three shots in the first half and made one three for his only scoring as Detroit forced 12 first half turnovers. Perry would finish with 18 points.

The start of the second half saw Youngstown State make an early 11-3 run to close the lead to within 10, 53-43, with 17:50 to play. The Penguins pulled within 10 five times in the second half but that was as close as they would get as Detroit finished the game shooting 60% from the field (33-55) including 19-25 from the charity stripe.

The Titans pushed their largest lead to 24 with 3:00 left in the first half on a three-pointer from Jason Calliste to make it 48-24. Calliste finished with nine points as Simon (14), Lowe (13), Anderson and Holman (11) all finished in double-figure scoring.

Damian Eargle led all scorers with 25 points, including 13 in the first half.

Detroit will move on to play Cleveland State Saturday evening at 6:00 p.m. (EST) in Valparaiso with a chance to advance to the Championship game Tuesday at 9:00 p.m. (EST) on ESPN. That final game will be hosted by the highest remaining seed in the tournament.

Notes: The Titans finished shooting 60% for the first time since Dec. 3, 2009 when they shot 67% at Calihan Hall vs. YSU, an 82-71 Titan win... The 50 points put up by Detroit in the first half was the fifth time this year they have put up that many in any half… Detroit is now 9-0 when scoring 80+ points… The Titans are 8-0 when Lowe scores 10 or more points ... Eli Holman registered his fourth double-double of the season and 28th of his career in the win ... he also became the 36th member of the 1,000-point club at the school.