Valparaiso needs overtime to beat Loyola, clinch first Horizon League title
By Steve T. Gorches 648-3141 or sgorches@post-trib.com February 21, 2012 11:30PM
Valparaiso students and players celebrate the Crusaders Horizon League title win in overtime over Loyola 66-62 at Valparaiso Tuesday evening. | Jeffrey D. Nicholls~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 23, 2012 8:20AM
VALPARAISO — Before Tuesday, Butler had been the cream of the crop in the Horizon League in men’s basketball.
At least a share of five straight regular season titles, two straight runner-up finishes in the NCAA Tournament, and its head coach Brad Stevens getting plenty of national attention on TV and courting from bigger schools looking to steal him from the Indianapolis school.
Before Tuesday, Scott Drew was the only son of Homer to be the head coach of Valparaiso University when it won a regular season conference title — 2003, the year before Scott headed to Baylor.
But on Tuesday, in front of a very boisterous crowd of 3,337, the Crusaders showed that Butler isn’t the only feel-good story in Indiana — at least for the moment.
VU needed five extra minutes to get the job done, but in overtime it came up with big shots from Matt Kenney and Will Bogan, and perfectly made free throws from Ryan Broekhoff to seal a 66-62 victory and clinch the program’s first Horizon League crown since joining the conference in 2007.
Those players didn’t know the OT heroics were needed since second-place Cleveland State lost at Green Bay before the overtime period at the Athletic-Recreation Center even started.
Either way, now Bryce doesn’t have to worry about Scott having bragging rights over him.
“Yeah, when we went fishing the next time, I probably would have had to carry everything,” Bryce joked.
It was fitting that Scott and Homer were on hand to witness the Crusaders’ first regular season conference title since 2004, which was also their last NCAA Tournament appearance.
“I looked up and caught a glance (of his brother and dad) during the game,” said Bryce, who was playing for the NBA’s New Orleans Hornets when VU last won a conference title. “I would have hated for him to fly all the way here and us to lose the game.”
So after waiting eight years to win another conference title, what’s another five minutes, except that VU has the best record in the Horizon and Loyola is last place.
But nothing has come easy for the Crusaders this season. Why start now?
“It just shows the strength of our conference,” said junior Ryan Broekhoff, led VU with 17 points and 11 rebounds, two of which came in overtime when the Crusaders needed them the most. “We stuck together. Once we got the momentum and the lead (in overtime), I was confident in our guys to finish it out.”
Easy for him to say. Fans and coaches likely weren’t quite as confident until Bogan drove the baseline with 1:52 left for a 59-56 lead, and then hit a baseline jumper on a scramble play with 1:04 left that gave VU a four-point cushion.
“What a game,” Bryce said. “We played (Loyola) a month-and-a-half ago and we’ve seen them on film since then and they’re a different team. They moved the ball well, cut well and their 1-3-1 was tough. We haven’t seen that defense much this season. But the Lord has blessed us in a lot of ways this year.”
After committing seven turnovers in the first half, VU only had a two-point lead at the break. The Crusaders added three more in the first three minutes of the second half, leading to one of Bryce’s trademark clipboard-hitting-the-floor moments during a timeout.
It wasn’t the spark they needed right off the bat, but eventually VU started playing better defense and kept the Ramblers out of the paint down the stretch just enough to allow the student section to storm the court in celebration.
“It’s a great feeling,” said Bogan, who had four 3-pointers on his way to 16 points. “But it’s just one goal and we have at least one more.”
That would be a Horizon League Tournament title (and subsequent NCAA Tournament berth) with the ARC playing host to the semifinals.
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