Purdue Fort Wayne
Valparaiso
Crusaders Shoot Their Way Past IPFW
11/15/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 15, 2007
Fort Wayne, IN - The Valparaiso Crusaders hit their first seven shots and used nine 3-pointers to stop IPFW, 74-64 on Thursday evening at the Memorial Coliseum, ruining the Mastodons' 2007-08 home opener.
The Crusaders set a blistering pace to the game, taking a 16-10 advantage after knocking down their first seven attempts.
IPFW managed to weather the storm and keep it close, and on a triple be senior forward DeWitt Scott, cut the Valpo lead to one at 20-19.
But, that is as close as IPFW would get in the opening half, and on three successive 3-pointers by sophomore guard Samuel Haanpaa, senior forward Sean Huff, and freshman forward Bryan Bouchie, Valpo had its biggest lead of the half at, 35-23.
A jumper by senior center Calum MacLeod with under a minute left, gave VU a nine-point, 39-30 half-time cushion.
IPFW opened the second half on a 6-0 run fueled by a layup from senior forward Jaraun Burrows and a pair of buckets by Scott.
Valparaiso answered with a three-ball from freshman guard Howard Little to open the lead back up to eight with 13:11 left.
The teams traded baskets, and on a triple from junior guard Jakari Johnson, IPFW trailed by just seven at the 9:02 mark.
Unfortunately for the 'Dons, Valpo just kept hitting threes. Little knocked down another, and after an untimely technical foul resulting in a four-point swing, Valpo opened up their biggest lead of the game at 66-49.
The Mastodons couldn't get the lead under 10 the rest of the way and fell by that margin.
The Crusaders (2-0) only had two players in double-figures with junior guard Jake Diebler and senior guard Jarryd Loyd each hitting for 10, but Valpo's balanced scoring and 3-point shooting did the trick.
Only one Crusader failed to score in the game. They shot 50% from the floor and 60% from behind the arc (9-15).
IPFW (0-2) registered four players in double figures. Jakari Johnson led the way with a game-high 18 points. Burrows added 15 points while Scott and senior guard Demetrius Johnson chipped in 13 each.
IPFW shot a respectable 45.8% from the floor, but only hit on 4-15 attempts from three-point land.
The Mastodons out-rebounded the Crusaders 29-28, with Jakari Johnson and Burrows each hauling down six.
The loss was the seventh straight for IPFW against Valpariaso.
The Mastodons will return to action on Wednesday night, hosting Manchester College in a 7:00 p.m. non-conference tilt.
~Dons~
