Late first half run dooms Sycamores

ST. LOUIS — A 22-7 run by Valparaiso over the final seven minutes of the first half transformed an eight-point Sycamore lead into a seven-point Indiana State halftime deficit as the Crusaders took control en route to a 77-55 victory at Enterprise Center in the opening round of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

ISU’s season ends with a 15-16 overall record while Valpo while move on to play top seeded Loyola on Friday.

Tyreke Key led the way for the Sycamores with 20 points as he hit 7-of-14 from the field and 4-of-8 from 3-point range. In the return to his hometown, Jordan Barnes tallied 10 points.

Cloverdale graduate Cooper Neese ended his freshman season for the Sycamores with a five-point effort on 2-7 shooting.

Key scored first for the Sycamores to answer a contested jumper by Valparaiso on their opening possession as the Sycamores gained an early 3-2 advantage. After moving ahead 5-4, Valparaiso scored the next six in a row before Bronson Kessinger scored with 13:47 on the clock to draw ISU within 10-7. An emphatic dunk from Emondre Rickman off the feed by Barnes as the clock ticked under the 10 minute mark made it six points out of eight for the Sycamores and cut the Crusader lead down to 14-13.

The Sycamores made it an 11-2 run and seven points in a row on a Tyreke Key 3-pointer from the top of the key which swished home and then Christian Williams posted a half court steal and amazing one-handed bounce pass to Key who laid the ball in to push the Indiana State lead to 18-14 with 8:15 remaining and force Valpo to use their first half timeout. Key extended the run to nine in a row and seven in a row personally with a jumper as the clock neared the seven minute mark and the lead grew to six points. ISU made it 11-0 (15-2 overall) when Williams grabbed another half court steal and laid it in for the 22-14 cushion.

Valpo drew within a point on a Derrik Smits put back lay-up with 3:04 remaining and then regained the lead on a pair of Markus Golder free throws. A steal and fast break lay-up by Javon Freeman with 2:05 on the clock extended their run out to 14-2 and pushed the Crusader lead to 29-26. Key would bury a 3-pointer with 59 seconds remaining to cut it to a one-possession game before Valpo scored the final four points of the half and they led it 36-29 at the break.

Key paced the Sycamores over the first 20 minutes with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting with a trio of 3-pointers.

Key scored first for the Sycamores in the second half as he drained his fourth 3-pointer of the game to move him to 18 points but Valpo hit a pair from distance of their own and they led 42-32 with 15:12 remaining. Christian Williams grabbed a big defensive rebound with just over 11 minutes to go and went the length of the floor for a jumper that rattled home to make it 46-36. After Valpo made it a 12-point lead, Rickman converted a conventional 3-point play with 10:40 to go to get it down to single digits at 48-39.

Valpo would run their lead out to 17 points before Cooper Neese got into the long distance scoring action with a corner 3-pointer at the 4:30 mark which trimmed the Crusader lead down to 65-51.

Barnes then buried a 3-pointer in transition at the 10:14 mark after grabbing a long defensive rebound and the Sycamores got as close as they had to that point in the second half at 48-42.

The Crusaders were led in scoring by Markus Golder with 18 points.