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Valpo's Jay Harris has the ball tipped away by Youngstown State's Kendrick Perry Friday evening, January 13, 2012, at Valparaiso. Perry was called for the foul. Valpo defeated the Penguins 76-62. | Michael Gard~For Sun-Times Media

Updated: March 12, 2012 8:08AM

CLEVELAND — Now comes the hard part for Valparaiso — staying in first place.

The Crusaders seized control of their own destiny with Thursday night’s 59-41 thrashing of Cleveland State. Win out, and Valparaiso has its first Horizon League championship and gets to host the conference tournament with an automatic spot in the semifinals.

But there are still four games left, starting with tonight’s game at Youngstown State. And after last year — when VU was in the same position after 14 games, at 11-3 and in first place, before losing three straight league games — the Crusaders know their hold on the top spot is tenuous at best.

“We’ll stick with our general routine,” said VU junior Ryan Broekhoff after he had 24 points and 10 rebounds on Thursday. “Just prepare as normal as we can. We’re excited tonight, but after tonight we’ll focus in on Youngstown State, and they’re a very good team. We know it’s going to be a good challenge to go in there and get a win.”

The Crusaders might not be at full strength tonight. Center Kevin Van Wijk, the league’s No. 4 scorer at 14.5 points per game, wrenched his left knee between two Cleveland State players on Thursday and spent the rest of the night on the bench, unable to put weight on his left foot. A team spokeseman said Friday that Van Wijk was “moving better” and was “questionable” for today’s game.

Meanwhile, starting guard Ben Boggs is “probable” after suffering what was initially feared to be a concussion on Thursday.

Valparaiso has won 14 straight against the Penguins, including all 10 meetings since joining the Horizon League. But it’s rarely been easy, particularly at the Beeghley Center, where VU won in overtime last year and by two points the year before that.

And this is YSU’s best team in years. The Penguins (13-11, 8-6) have one of the top starting lineups in the league — in fact, all five have been named the league’s Player of the Week at some points this season. All five average at least 9.3 points per game, led by guards Kendrick Perry (16.0 ppg, best in the league) and Blake Allen (13.0 ppg). The Penguins are fifth in the nation in 3-pointers made per game, draining 9.1 per contest.

What the Penguins don’t have is depth. In VU’s 76-62 home win over YSU on Jan. 13, four Penguins were on the court for at least 32 minutes, and Allen played all 40 minutes. As a result, the Crusaders were able to wear them down late in the game.

YSU has one of the league’s best big men in shot-blocking machine Damian Eargle. But if Van Wijk — who had 23 points against the Penguins in the first meeting — is unable to play, backup Richie Edwards puts Eargle in the unfamiliar position of having to defend the perimeter. Edwards isn’t the banger inside that Van Wijk is, but he hit four 3-pointers in the win over Cleveland State.

“That’s what they were giving me,” Edwards said. “That’s a shot I have to shoot for the defense to respect me. I’m just taking what they’re giving me.”

Youngstown State is coming off a 68-59 home loss to Butler, which plays at CSU for a 10 a.m. (central time) tip-off. So by the time tonight’s game begins, the Crusaders — who have the tiebreaker on CSU thanks to the season sweep — will know if a win will simply keep them a half-game up on the Vikings, or really entrench them in first with just three home games left on the league schedule.

“The one thing this team’s done a great job of doing is looking at it one game at a time,” VU coach Bryce Drew said. “It’s a long conference season. Last year we were 11-3 in conference and things can change very quickly.”