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DETROIT (1/17/13) -- Senior forward Nick Minnerath scored a career-high 36 points, but it wasn't enough as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team fell to Valparaiso 89-88 on Thursday night at Calihan Hall. The loss snapped the Titans' 17 game home winning streak as well Detroit's 22 game winning streak when scoring 80 or more points.

Detroit led by as much as 22 points in the second half, before Valpo closed the game with a 51-28 run, including two free throws from Ryan Broekhoff with 17 seconds remaining. The Titans had the final shot, twice, but attempts from downtown by Evan Bruinsma and Minnerath both came up short.

Minnerath led the Titans with a career-high 36 points on 12-of-17 shooting overall, including 4-of-7 from downtown, while classmate Doug Anderson added 17 points and Jason Calliste pitched in 14. Ray McCallum led the Titans with a game-high eight assists and seven rebounds.

Detroit (11-7, 3-2 HL) jumped out to an early 11-4 lead in the first five minutes of action, before extending its lead to 17-6 with 13:16 left. The Crusaders would trim Detroit's lead to 21-13 with 10:43 left, before the Titans closed the half with a 29-19 run, including a three-pointer from Calliste as time expired to give Detroit a 50-32 lead heading into the locker room. Minnerath led Detroit in the first half with 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting, including a perfect 3-of-3 from downtown, while Calliste had 10 points. Detroit shot 67.7 percent (21-31) from the floor in the first half, while holding Valpo to just 37.5% (12-32).

Detroit opened the second half with a 10-6 run to build its largest lead of the game, 60-38, with 17:08 remaining in regulation, before the Crusaders started to inch their way back with a 24-11 run to cut the lead to 71-62 with 10:06 left. The Titans answered back with an 11-8 run, capped off by a monster dunk from Anderson to give Detroit an 82-70 lead with 5:14 left. The Titans lead stayed in double figures for the next couple of minutes, before Valpo closed the game with a 12-0 run, including two free throws from Broekhoff with 17 seconds remaining.

Valparaiso (14-5, 4-1 HL) won the battle on the boards 38-29, but the Titans forced 15 Crusaders turnovers, which resulted in 23 points for Detroit. Detroit shot 53.0 percent (35-66) overall, while the Crusaders shot 50.0 percent (32-64) overall, including 62.5 percent (20-32) in the second half. Valpo also finished 18-of-22 from the charity stripe, while Detroit only connected on 13-of-20 from the foul line.

Valpo was led by Kevin Van Wijk who scored a career-high 31 points, including 19 in the second half, while Broekhoff pitched in 18 points and nine rebounds.

Detroit will continue its three-game homestand when it welcomes UIC to Calihan Hall on Saturday, Jan. 19 for Homecoming. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and will be televised live on FOX Sports Detroit.

GAME NOTES: The 36 points scored by Nick Minnerath are the most for a Titan since Ray McCallum scored 31 points against Eastern Michigan on Dec. 11, 2010 … The Titans last two losses at home have both come against Valparaiso, the previous game was 73-71 on Jan. 6, 2012 … Valparaiso leads the all-time series 12-8.