Game Wrap Up: Dunk of the year goes to.....

Ryan Broekhoff and Jay Harris scored 20 each and helped pace four Crusaders in double figures to an exciting 82-79 victory over Bowling Green.  This was Valpo's first ever victory over Bowling Green after going 0-8 over the past 65 years.

Broekhoff did most of his offensive damage in the first half and helped ice the game away with a couple free throws and several big steals down the stretch.  Harris picked up nicely where Rowdy left off doing the majority of his scoring after the break.  Matt Kenney (more on him later!) and KVW also scored in double figures.  Kenney had 12 and KVW pounded in 16.

After building a nice halftime lead the Crusaders saw their lead disappear about halfway through the second half.  The Falcons were led by a three consecutive dunks the last, a monster alley oop, actually gave them the lead.  The contest would continue to go back and forth until the closing seconds.  Harris, Broekhoff, Kenney and KVW hit some big free throws down the stretch to keep the Falcons at bay.  Erik Buggs suffered a knee injury at the end of the first half.  He returned and sat on the bench after the half but did not return.  Early word is it is a sprain which hopefully means he will be able to return by next Saturday.  Buggs' presence was sorely missed on the defensive end as Jordan Crawford (maybe quicker then Buggs) scored at will and led his team with 20 points.

Welcome to the jam session

There were some ridiculous dunks in this game.  KVW had a big jam after catching a pass while cutting through the lane.  A few moments earlier SectionEE author Danny mentioned he'd never seen a KVW dunk.  A'uston Calhoun had an in your face jam over KVW and finished off that big alley oop.  But, the dunk of the night had to go to Matt Kenney.  With the full court press on, Valpo threw deep to Kenney.  He tracked it down, went up with Crawford right in his face, and reminded Jordan Crawford that he is only 5'6'' (photo below, borrowed from @jeff_vu on Twitter).

The Crowd

Balloon Do's

Balloon Don'ts

Pretty good crowd tonight.  Lots of people from the community filling the seats.  Now to the student section.....great job filling up your section but you have to participate!  The balloons are for waving and distracting the opponents, not for making hats.  I wish I could say that it was only a few, but it was the majority.  Great job by the 5 or 6 guys down at floor level...time to get the rest of the students involved.  Geesh. Please note the photos for the do's and don't of balloons behind the hoop.

Player of the Game
Ryan Broekhoff: 20 points and 9 rebounds.  Another great effort by the best player in the Horizon League!

Runner Up: Jay Harris: 20 points and 5 rebounds.  He really carried the team offensively in the second half.

Up Next
The Crusaders welcome old rival Oakland on Saturday, December 17.  Valpo will need to be more consistant on defense if they hope to come away with another victory.