VALPARAISO, Ind. – Southeastern Louisiana hung with Valparaiso for the first 30 minutes in the opening game of the Savannah Invitational Sunday afternoon.
The Lions were within 42-38 after a layup by senior guard
Eddy Polanco with 13:37 remaining. It was still 46-40 after two free throws by senior forward
Jordan Capps at the 11:05 mark. But the Crusaders went on a 37-10 run over the final 9:52, holding Southeastern to one field goal, to pull away to an 83-50 victory.
Junior forward
Moses Greenwood led Southeastern (1-3) with 11 points and seven rebounds. Polanco added 10 points and five boards. The Lions shot 32.7 percent (17-of-52) and grabbed 32 rebounds but were just 1-of-16 (6.7 percent) on 3-pointers and tied a season high with 21 turnovers.
Joe Burton had a game-high 18 points for Valparaiso (4-0). Bakari Evelyn contributed 14 while Derrik Smits had 12 points and six rebounds. The Crusaders shot 55.2 percent (32-of-58) and had 33 rebounds.
Valparaiso took a 32-22 lead at the half and extended it to 12 on a jumper by Tevonn Walker with 18:04 remaining. Southeastern rallied with a 14-6 run over the next 4:27. Polanco knocked the lead down to 42-36 with 14:38 left before his coast to coast layup with 13:37 left.
Jaume Sorolla scored off a pass from Max Joseph to build the lead back to 46-38 with 12:13 remaining. But a Polanco layup and Capps's free throws cut the margin to six with 11:05 left.
Markus Golder started a 20-6 run for the Crusaders with a dunk off a pass from Smits. Southeastern's only points over the stretch came on free throws by Greenwood, senior guard
Jabbar Singleton and junior guard
Marlain Veal. Burton tipped in a miss by Evelyn to give Valparaiso a 68-46 lead with 4:25 remaining. Senior forward hit a jumper for the Lions' final field goal at the 4:02 mark.
Southeastern forced turnovers on Valparaiso's first three possessions in jumping out to a 6-0 lead on a short Greenwood jumper at the 17:24 mark. The Crusaders answered with seven straight points, taking their first lead on an Evelyn layup with 13:43 left.
The Lions regained the lead at 10-9 on two Polanco free throws with 10:48 remaining in the half. After an Evelyn 3 put Valparaiso ahead 18-14, Veal hit a jumper to make it a two-point game with 4:57 left. But the Crusaders responded with a 8-0 run to take a 26-16 lead on a Burton layup at the 2:48 mark. A three-point play by Veal made it 26-19. But Smits grabbed a steal and fed Burton for a layup before scoring on a putback at the buzzer to give Valparaiso a 32-22 halftime lead.
NOTES:
Polanco missed his first free throws of the season after making 19 straight. He finished 3-of-5 on free throws.
Valparaiso, which came in leading the country in free throw attempts, did not shoot one until the 11:22 mark of the second half. The Crusaders finished 9-of-10 from the line.
QUOTES:
Southeastern head coach Jay Ladner:
"You have to give them credit, first of all. They are an outstanding team, very well-coached, huge. But I thought our guys fought tooth and nail. With 12 minutes left, it was anybody's game. I don't know at that point when they came down and hit a couple of 3s and it stretched the lead real quick, if that broke our back. I have to go back and look at the film to see kind of see what went on right there. I was disappointed with the way the game ended but I don't think anybody would think that was indicative of how the game was played."
UP NEXT:
Southeastern continues play in the tournament at Kent State Tuesday at 6 p.m. (Central Time).
