VALPARAISO, Ind. - The Milwaukee men's basketball team led the majority of the first half but a 14-0 scoring run near the end of the period changed the game and sent Valparaiso University on its way to a 68-56 victory Thursday night at the ARC.
 
The Panthers (12-6, 3-2 Horizon League) played well early and held a 28-24 lead with 5:14 left in the first before the Crusaders (14-3, 4-0 Horizon League) ripped off the big scoring run to take a 38-30 lead at intermission.
 
"Our guys came in and they were ready to play," Milwaukee head coach Rob Jeter said. "We have been in this environment the last few years and really gotten behind early so I was very pleased with how we started the game. I thought we were good in stretches, but the problem is that Valpo is consistent in what they do and I think that really shows in how they rebound the basketball."
 
Jordan Johnson led the offense with 19 points, adding six assists. Matt Tiby had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds and Akeem Springs was also in double-figures with 13 points.
 
Vashil Fernandez paced the home team with 14 points, just one off his career high. Milwaukee held leading scorer Alec Peters to seven points, nearly 11 points below his season average.
 
Milwaukee would get stops on defense in the second half, but could never get closer than 10 points the final 16:12 of the contest. The win for Valparaiso, which came into the game ranked No. 2 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll this week and receiving votes in both the AP and coaches poll nationally, was its school-record 21^st in a row at home.
 
Valpo put together a solid effort, making half of their shots (28-of-56) on the night while dominating the boards. The Crusaders more than doubled up Milwaukee overall, 47-22, and came up with 18 offensive rebounds on their way to a 20-0 advantage in second-chance points.
 
"I think this game was really summed up, in my opinion, on rebounding," Jeter said. "They outrebounded us by 25, had 18 offensive rebounds to our four and had 20 second-chance points. When you lose a game by 12 and give up 20 second-chance points, that is something that is unacceptable."
 
 
The first 10 minutes of the game was like a heavyweight fight, with each team trading punches. In fact, the first 10:26 featured a pair of ties and six different lead changes, with the Panthers taking the 18-16 edge going into the under-8 media timeout on a corner three from Springs.
 
Another triple from Springs made it 21-16 to match the visitors' largest lead of the period. Tiby's dunk seemed to give Milwaukee momentum and did give it a 26-22 lead with 6:29 remaining.
 
However, the offense want cold the final five minutes, connecting on just one field goal and that came right at the horn by Johnson to snap a streak of 14 Valpo points in a row that had given it a 10-point lead. It was eight at the horn at 38-30.
 
"Basketball is a game of runs," Jeter said. "We have been down before and made runs. We don't get rattled that way. But we know in order to beat a team of this caliber in this environment, it's the little things. You have to limit them to one opportunity and we didn't do that tonight."
 
Up next, the Panthers close out a stretch of four Horizon League road games in a row with a trek to Chicago to take on UIC. Game time Saturday is scheduled for 3 p.m.