VALPARAISO, Ind. (2/20/2016) -- Sophomore Paris Bass tied his career high for the fourth time with 28 points and the Titans shot over 50.0 percent from the field, but Valparaiso was able to withstand that and defeat the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team, 90-74, on Sunday afternoon at the ARC.

With the win, Valparaiso moved to 24-5, 14-2 in the Horizon League as it clinched the regular season title, while Detroit fell to 15-13, 9-8 in league play. The loss also means that the Titans can finish as high as fourth and no lower than sixth in the standings. 

Bass tallied his 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting to go with seven rebounds. Senior Carlton Brundidge recorded 19 points, four rebounds and four assists and senior Anton Wilson posted 17 points, hitting four 3-pointers.

Detroit finished the game shooting 52.1 percent (25-of-48), including 9-of-17 from three (55.6%), the eighth time this season that the Titans have shot over 50.0 percent in a game. 

On its senior day, Valparaiso started strong out of the gate with six straight points and led 9-2 at the first media timeout. A layup by Brundidge and a three by Wilson trimmed it to 9-7, but the Crusaders would stop that and the Titans would never be able to jump in front.

The Titans pulled within three on a couple of occasions as Wilson knocked in a triple to make it 15-12 and Brundidge hit from distance for an 18-15 margin halfway through the first.  Detroit did make it a two-point game at 20-18 with 9:51 left as Bass drove the lane for the bucket and a foul.

Valpo then started to extend the lead opening a double-digit advantage at 35-25 before junior Chris Jenkins tallied a trifecta. The Crusaders would take a 13-point lead, 45-32, before entering the half up 48-37.

The Titans fought hard coming out of the break, but six-straight points to start the second half had the red, white and blue down 17, 54-37. Detroit would chip away and go on a 7-0 spurt to get within nine, 57-48, at the 14:58 mark. A minute later, two free throws from Brundidge cut it to eight, 58-50, but the home team put the game away with an 18-5 run over the next six minutes.

Bass also had a team-high four steals. Jenkins registered six points, four boards and two assists and Hogan added four points, two rebounds and three helpers.

As a team, the Titans totaled 10 steals and forced 13 turnovers, but lost the rebounding battle, 39-24.

The Titans will now get ready for the regular-season finale as Detroit visits Oakland on Friday in a #MetroSeries showdown that will be televised by ESPNU at 9:00 p.m. 

Before that, Detroit will have a busy week as it travels to Flint, Michigan, on Monday to deliver and hand out water and supplies that the athletic department has collected in the last few weeks. 

Game Notes:
Detroit now trails the all-time series, 14-9, as Valpo swept the regular-season series for the first time since 2011-12, when the Titans beat them in the Horizon League Championship… It was the fourth time this year that the Titans have had 10 or more steals in a game… The Titans were outrebounded for the first time in eight games and the -15 margin was the second most on the season behind the -19 at Vanderbilt… Wilson's four 3-pointers in the game give him 81 on the season, moving past Flint product Jon Goode '08 for sixth in school history and just a couple behind Desmond Ferguson ' 00 for fourth in the Titan record book… Bass saw his streak of four-straight double-doubles come to an end, but his six-straight 20-point games is the longest since Willie Green did it in 10-straight in 2002-03… Brundidge is averaging 15.8 points in the last five games and shooting 59.1 percent… Bass' 12, 20-point games is third in the Horizon League…