Men’s Basketball Falls To Valpo, 90-61

December 15, 2007

Valparaiso, Ind. – While there was a snow storm outside of Valparaiso’s Athletic Recreation Center, Valpo was inside raining three’s as the Crusaders hit 16 three-pointers, led by sophomore guard Samual Haanpaa’s a career-high 32 points, while he connected on school record 10-of-12 from three-point land, leading Valparaiso to a 90-61 victory over Chicago State Saturday night.

The loss drops Chicago State’s record to 4-9, while Valparaiso improves their record to 10-1 on the season.

CSU was led by junior guard David Holston who scored a team-high 15 points. Junior Mike Wilson chipped in with 10 points and five boards in the losing effort.

The Crusaders were led by Haanpaa’s 32 points. Bryan Bouchie had 12 points off the bench, while Urule Igbavboa and Shawn Huff each chipped in with 11 points.

Valparaiso jumped out of the gate’s smoking, taking an early 20-10 lead at the 14:28 mark. Chicago State responded with a 9-2 run, cutting the lead to three (22-19), capped by a lay-up from junior forward Tawrence Walton with 11:55 remaining in the opening half. CSU’s good fortunes didn’t last long as Valpo went on a 33-14 run to close out the half, giving the Crusaders a 55-33 lead going into the locker rooms.

Valparaiso got an outstanding first half performance from Samuel Haanpaa, who hit 6-of-8 from three-point range on his way to a team-high 18 point first half.

Chicago State’s leading scorer David Holston was held in check with eight first-half points.

Chicago State’s misfortunes continued in the second-half as Haanpaa continued his career night connecting on five more three’s. The Cougars did a much better job defensively holding the Crusaders to 35 second-half points, but it wasn’t enough as Valpo cruised to the 29 point victory.

Valparaiso held Chicago State to only 11% (2-18) from three-point range, and 39% (24-61) from the field for the game. 

Chicago State will be back in action on Tuesday, Dec. 18, when they travel to Oxford, Ohio to take on the Red hawks of Miami University. Tip is set for 7:00 p.m.