Purdue Fort Wayne
Valparaiso
Free Throws Push Valpo Past IPFW
11/14/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 13, 2006
Fort Wayne, IN -Valparaiso made the most of their 41 free throw attempts to hold off IPFW, 75-67 on Monday night at the Memorial Coliseum.
The Crusaders (2-0) knocked down 31 of their tries, many down the stretch, to open up a very close contest.
The first half set the tone for the entire game. There were three ties and two lead changes, with the largest lead of the half (5) belonging to Valpo with just 3:03 remaining.
Sophomore forward Urule Igbavboa paced the Crusaders inside with 11 first half points.
IPFW countered with 10 points from sophomore guard Kyle Savely and nine points from junior forward Zeljko Egeric.
All of Egeric's points coming from behind the arc, but it was Valpo clinging to just a two point lead at intermission (35-33).
The Crusaders maintained the lead in the second half until junior guard Chris Perkins knocked down a three to give the 'Dons a 45-44 lead at the 12:39 mark.
Valpo would tie the game at 57-all on a jumper by junior forward Shawn Huff with just over six minutes remaining.
IPFW senior guard Quintin Carouthers brought the Coliseum crowd to their feet with a baseline drive and slam, but the 'Dons trailed by one (61-60) with 4:19 left.
The game would end up getting away from IPFW (0-2) at the 1:54 mark.
The 'Dons were down 64-61. Junior forward DeWitt Scott was at the line shooting one and the bonus, but Scott missed the front end. Valpo grabbed the rebound, ran the floor, and got the ball to Huff, who buried a triple to put the Crusaders up by six.
Once again, Valpo hit their freebies the rest of the way to win by eight.
"I was really proud of our basketball team for their execution," said Valpo head coach Homer Drew.
"Especially at the four or five minute mark when we got some good looks and we made those baskets. I thought that was huge for a team with eight freshman and sophomores."
"I thought we played well enough to win the game, but we didn't," IPFW Dane Fife lamented. "We missed some key free-throws and missed a defense stop late. I still consider us a young team. We've just got to keep working to get better, and figure out how to win close games down the stretch."
Valpo, who shot 46.7% in the game, got a game-high 21 points from Huff. Igbavboa finished the night with a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds.
IPFW was led by Egeric with a career-high 17 points on 5-8 shooting from the three point line.
Carouthers ended the night with 12 points and Savely finished with 10.
The Mastodons, who were 6-12 from the stripe, shot .37.3% from the field. I
PFW will look for their first win of the season when the host Rochester College on Wednesday night at 7pm.
~Dons~
