VALPARAISO, Ind. – The Green Bay men's basketball team fell on the road Tuesday night at Valparaiso, 64-59. With the loss, the Phoenix moves to 1-2 on the season.
Noah Reynolds led Green Bay with 24 points and seven rebounds. Jones finished with his first double-double of the season, scoring 13 points and pulling down a game-high 15 rebounds. Foster Wonders chipped in with eight points off the bench.
Green Bay outshot Valparaiso on the night, but a couple of timely threes allowed the Beacons to build a lead down the stretch of the second half. Valpo was led by the guard tandem of Jaxon Edwards and Isaiah Stafford, who scored 19 and 18 points, respectively. Stafford was especially key late, scoring 12 of his 18 points in the second half.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Phoenix and Beacons traded baskets for the first 12 minutes of the game and found themselves tied at 16 all with 7:23 left in the half. GB went on a 5-0 run that was sparked by a Preston Ruedinger jumper to take a 21-16 lead with 5:46 to go. That five-point lead would hold the remainder of the half, with Rich Byhre draining a deep two as the first half buzzer sounded to give GB a 31-26 advantage heading into halftime. Green Bay did most of its first half damage in the paint, scoring 18 of its 31 points in the paint.
The Green & White started the second half strong with a 7-0 run to grow the lead to 38-30 with 15:36 to go. However, the Beacons responded immediately with a 7-0 run of their own to cut the GB lead to 38-37. Valpo eventually took the lead 43-42 with 9:04 and never gave it back up. Reynolds attempted to lead a late Green Bay comeback after racing down the court and making a layup to make the score 61-59 with :14 seconds remaining, but three free throws from Valpo iced the game down the stretch.
GAME NOTES
»
Elijah Jones' 15 rebounds is the most a Phoenix player has had since Manny Patterson pulled down 16 against Concordia Chicago on Dec, 18, 2019.
» The Phoenix defense held the Beacons to only 36.2 percent shooting from the field.
» Green Bay outrebounded Valparaiso 42-37.
» Both teams struggled from deep, with Valpo shooting 4-of-18 from three and the Phoenix shooting 2-of-18.
» Both benches scored 14 points on the night.
» GB struggled from the free throw line, finishing the night 5-for-11.
» Green Bay outscored the Beacons in the paint, 42-22.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Phoenix will soar west for a two-game set at Worthington Arena in Bozeman, Mont. GB will take on Montana State on Monday, Nov. 20 at 8 p.m. CT before squaring off with UC Riverside in a neutral site game on Tuesday, Nov. 21 at 6 p.m. CT.
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