NCAA News Wire
Valparaiso 73, Illinois-Chicago 63
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
Forward Alec Peters scored 29 points, and fourth-seeded Valparaiso held off a late charge by ninth-seeded Illinois-Chicago for a 73-63 opening-round Horizon League tournament victory on Tuesday at the Athletics-Recreation Center in Valparaiso, Ind.
Guard LaVonte Dority added 12 for the defending league champion Crusaders (18-14).
Valparaiso saw a 14-point, second-half advantage shrink to 59-56 with 6:29 to play, but the Crusaders maintained a lead that never slipped under five points the rest of the way.
Valparaiso completed a three-game season sweep of the Flames, whose campaign ended with the defeat. Illinois-Chicago (6-25) lost 19 of its final 20 games.
Illinois-Chicago guard Marc Brown scored 16 points, forward Jordan Harks had 14, guard Kelsey Barlow contributed 11 and guard Jay Parker added 10. The Flames maintain a 29-20 series edge, but last beat the Crusaders on Feb. 15, 2008.
Valparaiso never trailed, and it claimed a 39-28 lead by halftime behind Peters’ 14 first-half points. Brown had 11 for the Flames in the opening 20 minutes.
Valparaiso meets Milwaukee on Friday night in a Horizon quarterfinal at Green Bay. The fifth-seeded Panthers beat Detroit 83-73 in an earlier first-round match. Milwaukee eliminated Detroit 83-73 Tuesday.
The Milwaukee-Valparaiso winner will play the top-seeded Phoenix in the semifinals on Saturday, also at Green Bay.
