DETROIT, Mich. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) – The Green Bay men's basketball team would not be denied against Valparaiso this time around, upsetting the tournament's top-seed in overtime of the semi-final round, 99-92, to advance to the 2016 Little Caesars' Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship Game on Tuesday night on ESPN at Joe Louis Arena.
Facing the Crusaders (26-6) for the third time in the last four years in the postseason, the Phoenix (22-12) knocked down 12 3-point field goals, while setting a program-record by attempting 52 free throws as it outlasted the defending champions in thrilling fashion.
With the win, Green Bay will advance to the title game for the second-consecutive year to take on either No. 2 seed Oakland (21-10) or No. 3 seed Wright State (21-12) for the right to punch a ticket to the NCAA Tournament. Tip is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT (7 p.m. ET), and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.
After a David Skara triple with 9:08 left in the opening half gave Valparaiso its largest lead of the game, 24-16, the Phoenix closed on a 19-8 run to take a three-point edge into the break, 35-32.
In a game that featured six ties and nine lead changes in all, Green Bay finally forged ahead in the second half on a layup by junior Charles Cooper that made it, 56-54, with 9:26 remaining. The Phoenix extended its advantage to seven four separate times over the next five-plus minutes, the last coming with 4:45 left, when a pair of Jordan Fouse free throws made it, 70-63.
The Crusaders refused to go away down the stretch; however, and after Cooper split a pair at the charity stripe with just over two seconds to play, Valpo's Jubril Adekoya found a streaking Alec Peters on a baseball pass downcourt that landed just out of reach of Fouse's outstretched arm. With time winding down, Peters' layup beat the horn with tenths of a second to spare to send the game into an extra session.
After the Crusaders scored the first two points of overtime, Green Bay used a 12-0 run to take its largest lead with 1:16 to go, 91-81, and made enough free throws in the waning seconds to clinch the victory.
Playing with four fouls for the better part of overtime, the senior forward Fouse had a team-high 25 points, along with 10 rebounds and 7 assists en route to his 11th double-double of the season. It marks the most by a Phoenix player since Nate Barnes had that many in 1980-81.
Cooper added 24 points on 15 made free-throws for Green Bay, while senior guard Carrington Love chipped in with 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting to post the fourth-highest single-season scoring mark by a senior in program history. The Milwaukee native (610 points) surpassed legendary Phoenix guard Tony Bennett (605) and is now just five points away from surpassing Keifer Sykes (614) for third.
Additionally, after starting tonight's game, both Fouse and Love have now become the program's all-time leaders in games played (132), esclipsing Troy Cotton (2006-10) and Terry Evans (2006-09) who ended with 131.
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