Valparaiso is off to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years after taking down Green Bay, 54-44, in the Horizon League championship game Tuesday night.
Valparaiso wins 2015 Horizon League basketball tournament: top-seeded Crusaders outlast Green Bay, 54-44
The next step for Bryce Drew is now getting the Crusaders to win a game in the big dance for the first time since he led them to the Sweet 16 as a player.
Freshman guard David Skara played hero for the Crusaders, coming off the bench to score a team-high 12 points. It was the first time Skara -- who averages just 5.3 ppg -- had scored in double figures since Feb. 8. E. Victor Nickerson chipped in 11 points for Valpo, which will carry a sparkling 28-5 record with it into the dance.
On the other side, the loss ended the NCAA Tournament dreams of Green Bay star Keifer Sykes. The back-to-back Horizon League Player of the Year has more than 2,000 career points to his credit, but will head to the professional ranks without getting to hear his team’s name called on Selection Sunday. Sykes -- who was just 6-for-30 from the field and scored 18 total points in the two regular season meetings against Valpo -- scored 14 points on Tuesday night, but shot just 5-of-15.
The finale had always felt like an unavoidable rubber match between the Horizon League’s top two seeds, and the only two teams in the conference with 20 or more wins. Each team won their home game against the other during the regular season in close fashion, but Valparaiso earned home court advantage for the championship game by virtue of winning the regular season title outright.
The Crusaders needed that rowdy home crowd to help them overcome a first half deficit that grew as large as 10 when Green Bay led, 25-15, with 1:10 to go before halftime. Valpo also trailed by as many as seven in the second half, but took hold of a lead they would not relinquish when junior guard Keith Carter’s three-pointer gave them a 40-39 advantage with 8:39 to go.
The championship was especially sweet for Valparaiso considering they lost point guard Lexus Williams for the year to an ACL tear before the season even started, and then saw Carter miss more than a month of conference play with a toe injury. Even more adversity came Saturday, when third-leading scorer Tevonn Walker (10.5 ppg) injured his right knee during the team's semifinal win over Cleveland State. Walker started the game Tuesday night, but quickly left the court and did not return.
The injury opened the door for Skara, who seemed like the only Valpo player not overwhelmed by the moment early on. He scored eight of his team’s first 15 points, and kept the Phoenix from building a lead that would have been even more difficult to overcome.
For Green Bay, the preseason favorites in the Horizon League, the loss continues an NCAA Tournament drought that dates back to 1996. The Phoenix were upset in the conference tournament semifinals as the top seed last season, and were beaten at the buzzer in the same round by Valparaiso in 2013. The loss dropped Sykes to 0-6 in his career against the Crusaders in games played at Valpo’s Athletics-Recreation Center.
This will be the second trip to the NCAA Tournament for Valparaiso under the direction of fourth-year head coach Bryce Drew. The Crusaders made the dance in 2013, but were beaten by Michigan State in their first game, 65-54. The program’s only two wins in the big dance came in 1998, when Drew -- then a star senior guard -- led Valpo to the Sweet 16 via upset wins over Ole Miss and Florida State.
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