VALPARAISO, Ind.-- An inspired second half propelled the Detroit Titans past host Valparaiso for a 70-50 victory in the Horizon League Championship game Tuesday night at the Athletics-Recreation Center.  The league title is the first for the Titans since 1999 and they will grab an auto-bid to the NCAA Tournament.

It was truly a tale of two halves and the second stanza was one that will live in Titan lore.  After getting out-hustled (23-13 rebounding margin in favor of Valpo) and shooting just 29 percent in the first 20 minutes, Detroit emerged from the locker room with the ferocity of a caged bull.

Behind a vocal charge led by tournament Most Valuable Player sophomore Ray McCallum, the Titans wrestled control of the game-- and the crowd-- with the same brand of basketball that has helped Detroit right the ship on what was a disappointing start to the season.

Coming into the game as the league's top offense, Detroit has often times used an up-tempo pace to outscore opponents.  On a night when its offense chugged through the opening period, the Titans turned to a renewed focus on defense in the second half to put away the top seed on its home floor.

Trailing 27-24 at the break, Detroit looked sluggish and may have been lucky to only be down by one possession.  Valpo, led by forward Kevin Van Wijk, crashed the boards and led by as many as nine.  The Crusaders turned the ball over 11 times, however, leaving a window of opportunity that the Titans would cash-in on later.

With the score 31-25 Valpo, McCallum pulled-up for a jumper and was fouled, sparking a hyped display of emotions that kick-started his team's second-half run. An Eli Holman slam on a putback followed and forced a Valpo timeout sensing a shift in momentum.

"We said that we wanted to come out with a lot of energy and emotion in the second half, and play like it could be our last game," McCallum said. "The and-one got me going, then Eli got that big dunk and everyone seemed to feed off of the energy."

The timeout did little to quell the swing as Detroit posted six straight points to gain the lead for the first time since the first six minutes of the game.  Valpo knocked down a pair of threes-- after starting 0-8 from distance-- to trim the lead down to 44-42 with 8:35 to play.

From there, the Titans locked the game away by outscoring the Crusaders 26-8 the rest of the way, taking advantage of Valpo turnovers and cashing them in for points.  Detroit held a 20-2 advantage in points off of turnovers.  Chase Simon hit a three, then McCallum stole and dunked and Jason Calliste buried a triple for eight quick points as the margin swelled to a dozen.

With an eight-point lead in tow and 2:41 to go, Detroit salted the game away with 12 consecutive points and the red-clad Detroit cheering section spilled onto the court.  The supporters, which were more than four buses strong from the Motor City, helped neutralize a once-raucous crowd of 4,258 to bring Detroit its first league crown since the MCC changed its name to the Horizon League and third overall (1994, 1999).

It was quite the birthday present from son to father.  Coach Ray McCallum was celebrating his 51st birthday Tuesday and said simply in the postgame press conference: "That was the best birthday present ever."

McCallum averaged 19.3 points per game in the four-game tournament and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Calliste and center LaMarcus Lowe. Broekhoff and Van Wijk rounded out the team.

Lowe had a double-double with a career-high tying 14 points to go along with 10 rebounds.  Calliste hit three triples en route to 17 points. McCallum's final stat line read 21 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists.

Van Wijk played through a leg injury to post a team-best 17 points for Valparaiso.  HL Player of the Year Broekhoff added 13 points.  Valpo, who hit 20 treys in its previous two regular season wins against Detroit, mustered just 2 of 18 shooting from deep Tuesday.

Detroit will learn its destination for the NCAA Tournament at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 11, as part of CBS' NCAA Tournament Selection Show, while Valparaiso will head to the NIT.

Notes:  McCallum's 21 points gave him 10 games of 20+ (leads team) and three straight ... He sits just seven points shy of 1,000 for his young career ... The third-seeded Titans became just the second team since the Horizon League moved to the double-bye format to win four games en route to the League title (Cleveland State- 2009) ... Lowe's double-double was his first of the season and second of his career ... Detroit improved to 9-0 in games that Lowe reaches double figures in scoring this season.