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VALPARAISO, Ind. (2/16/13) – The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team used a late rally to stun Valparaiso with an impressive 84-74 win Saturday on ESPN2 as part of Rivalry Week. The Titans ended the game with a 36-11 run to erase a 15-point deficit to beat the Crusaders.
The win over the Crusaders was the first for the Titans during the regular season since 2010 and the second-straight for Detroit (18-9, 10-4 HL) at the ARC dating back to the 2012 Horizon League Championship game.
Valpo (20-7, 10-3 HL) led at the half, 37-26, before building a 63-48 lead with 9:26 left in regulation. The Titans then exploded with a 19-0 run to take a 67-63 lead with 3:35 left. Valpo trimmed the lead to two, 67-65, with 3:20 remaining, but that was as close as the score would get as Detroit closed the game with a 17-9 run, including 10-straight free throws down the stretch, to grab its sixth road win of the season.
Nick Minnerath and
Jason Calliste each had 21 points in the come-from-behind win, while
Evan Bruinsma posted a double-double with 12 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
Ray McCallum added 15 points, 13 in the second half, with six assists, five rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots, while
Doug Anderson pitched in eight points and two steals.
Valpo opened the game with an 8-2 run, including a pair of three-pointers from Ryan Broekhoff, before the Titans answered back with a pair of layups from Anderson to trim the lead to 8-6 with 13:31 left. The Crusaders then pieced together a 10-3 run over the next couple of minutes to extend their lead to 18-9, before Detroit responded with a 6-0 run to make it 18-15 with just under 10 minutes remaining. Valpo then closed the half with a 19-11 run to take a 37-26 lead into the locker room. The Crusaders made 7-of-16 from downtown and shot 45.2 percent overall, while the Titans finished the first half shooting 40 percent overall, just 1-of-3 from beyond the arc. Minnerath led the Titans with eight points, while Anderson had six and Bruinsma four.
Both teams swapped baskets to begin the second half, before the Titans pieced together a 7-0 run to trim the Crusaders lead to 47-41 with 13:17 left in regulation. Valpo answered back with a 16-7 run to build its largest lead of the game 63-48 with 9:26 left, before Detroit answered back with a 19-0 run to grab its first lead of the game, one it would not relinquish.
The Titans ended the game shooting 53.3 percent (32-62) from the field, including 66.7 percent (20-30) in the second half, while Valpo shot 50 percent (28-56) overall. Detroit also finished 16-of-20 from the charity stripe and forced 18 Crusader turnovers, while dishing out 18 assists to go along with 10 steals.
Matt Kenney finished with 18 points to lead Valpo, while Will Bogan added 15 points and Erik Buggs pitched in 12. Broekhoff and Kevin Van Wijk both scored 10 points, respectively.
Detroit will stay on the road as the Titans visit Wichita State on Saturday, Feb. 23 as part of the Ramada Worldwide BracketBusters. The game is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. ET at Charles Koch Arena and will be televised live on ESPN2.