Nov. 24, 2001

Box Score

VALPARAISO, Ind. - Milo Stovall scored 20 points while Raitis Grafs and Lubos Barton added 18 points apiece as Valparaiso collected an 82-69 win over UWM Saturday night.

Jason Frederick scored 17 while Clay Tucker added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Panthers (1-2), who dropped their second-straight road decision.

Valpo (2-2), which started a front line that stood 6-foot-8, 6-foot-9 and 6-foot-11, plus included 7-foot Antti Nikkila off the bench, controlled the game inside. The Crusaders outrebounded UWM 48-34 while collecting 18 offensive rebounds. Valpo also outscored the Panthers, 34-22, in the paint.

"That's an NCAA Tournament team," UWM head coach Bruce Pearl said of the Crusaders, who have played in five of the last six NCAA Tournaments. "We're not good enough yet to beat an NCAA Tournament team on the road. They outscored us in second-chance points and had 18 offensive rebounds. But I thought we played very well in the second half and kept fighting with them until the end."

The Crusaders put the game away with a 10-2 run to open the second half, turning a 35-23 lead into a 45-25 advantage on a Stovall layin with 18:13 to play in the game. UWM made a brief run to pull within 51-38 on a Justin Lettenberger follow-up basket with 15:00 remaining, but the Panthers would get no closer until the closing moments.

Valpo took control of the game late in the first half, first building a 24-14 advantage with 6:58 to play. The Crusaders then scored six of the next eight points over the next 3:20 to claim a 32-16 advantage. The Panthers did close to within 12 by halftime, but UWM shot just 28 percent from the field in the first half and was outrebounded 24 to 19.

UWM returns to action next Friday night, facing Iowa State in the first round of the Tribune Cyclone Challenge. The game begins at 8 p.m. and can be seen on TV-41 in Milwaukee.