Everyone chipping in for Crusaders

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Jay Harris

Updated: February 16, 2012 8:33AM

VALPARAISO — For a team with only nine healthy, eligible scholarship players, Valparaiso’s depth has become a surprising strength.

It’s not the quantity — only eight Crusaders consistently see significant minutes — that has given Valparaiso such a boost, but the quality.

Friday’s emphatic 76-62 win over Youngstown State was a perfect example. While the Penguins leaned almost exclusively on their five starters, eight Crusaders played at least 18 minutes, with only one (Will Bogan) playing more than 29.

The result was a fresher team down the stretch, and a pull-away victory against the fatigued Penguins.

“We came out with a lot of energy and were able to carry that energy throughout the game,” VU coach Bryce Drew said. “We were able to get eight guys double-figure minutes, which really allowed us to keep some of our players fresh out there. And I thought that being fresh was the big difference in getting some key rebounds and playing some hard defense.”

Indeed, the Crusaders (11-7, 4-2) got significant contributions from all eight players. Matt Kenney, coming off the bench for the fourth straight game, had four assists, two steals and a blocked shot. Jay Harris scored nine points off the bench and handed out five assists. Richie Edwards saw more minutes when Kevin Van Wijk got two first-half fouls and scored 12 points. And Ben Boggs, who recently took Kenney’s starting spot, had a career-high eight rebounds.

“We had a really good week of practice and everyone on our team really competed,” Drew said. “I thought coming in that those guys deserved the right to get more minutes and show what they could do. I thought the 26 (minutes) from Matt, 25 from Jay and 18 from Richie were really important because our intensity level didn’t drop at all. Whichever combination of the eight we had on the floor, all of them brought a lot of energy and played very aggressively.”

Van Wijk, meanwhile, scored 23 points in his 23 minutes, and clearly had more hop in his step than YSU’s Damian Eargle did in the second half.

The VU big man will have a different challenge in today’s game against Horizon League leader Cleveland State. The Vikings (15-3, 5-1) have 6-9, 260-pound bruiser Aaron Pogue clogging up the middle. Van Wijk — hardly a speedy, little guy himself at 6-8, 230 — hopes to have the same type of success against Pogue that he had against Eargle by using his speed.

“I always look forward to playing any big guy in the league,” he said. “Coach emphasizes running the court. If we do that, I think he won’t be able to run the court. I think I can use my quickness against him.”

The Vikings lost Horizon League Player of the Year Norris Cole to the Miami Heat, but they’re still loaded with high-scoring guards. D’Aundray Brown is back after a redshirt year and is averaging 12 points, Trevon Harmon is averaging 11.5 and Jeremy Montgomery is averaging 10.6.

But the Vikings get the bulk of their minutes from six or seven guys. VU hopes its depth can win the day — again.

“Cleveland State is playing fantastic, it’s a huge challenge for us,” said Ryan Broekhoff. “We’ve got to make sure we come out with the same enthusiasm and intensity, especially on defensive rebounding. We need every guy rebounding. You saw what we can do in the open court, we can find shooters and get to the rack. We need that same kind of effort. It’s a very important game for us.”