Game 13- @Belmont

If the Drew family was to win their 1,000th carer game, it would have to come courtesy of Valparaiso and Bryce Drew, with Scott and Baylor falling to Texas A&M by 19 points. With longtime Crusaders coach Homer Drew in attendance, Valpo obliged, rolling over Missouri State 74-45 on Saturday night. Alec Peters again led the way, posting a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Tevonn Walker chipped in 18 in his first game back from injury. Seven players off the bench combined for 19 points, led by Shane Hammink with seven. The Crusaders would shoot 41.4% on threes and would lead by as much as 31 in the second half. Only one Missouri State player would break double digits (Dequon Miller with 12). Camryn Boone tacked on eight points, four rebounds, and one assist, steal, and block. E. Victor Nickerson sat out for Valparaiso with a hairline fracture in his wrist. He is expected to be out for at least a week.


Next Monday, the 28th, the Crusaders will make the trip down to Nashville, TN to take on the Belmont Bruins (7-6, 0-0 OVC), ranked 20th in the Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25. Belmont is coming off of a last-second 67-65 defeat at Cleveland St. on Saturday. Both teams have finals this week, which is why there is a nine-day layoff between games for both the Crusaders and the Bruins.
-Valparaiso defeated Belmont 61-57 at the ARC on December 3. In that game, Alec Peters scored 17 and Keith Carter had 14 for Valpo. For Belmont, Craig Bradshaw put up 12 points and Evan Bradds added 11, with eight rebounds.
-The largest home crowd to see Belmont at the Curb Events Center this year was 3253 for a Belmont victory over Western Kentucky. This will be just the fourth home game for the Bruins this season.
-Evan Bradds still leads Belmont with 16.9 ppg and 8.8 rpg. Mack Mercer (11.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg) leads the team with eight blocks, and Austin Luke (6.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg) has tallied 84 assists this season.
-Valparaiso leads the all-time series 9-1 after the victory earlier in the season. Belmont's only victory came in Nashville, but back in 2001.
-The game will be televised on the OVC Digital Network and will be on the radio at WVUR (95.1 FM).