Horizon League Championship -- Tuesday 6 pm CST

[govalpogo]

Only saw the last 50 seconds because of CPE, but it was a happy watch.    Sounds like the team overcame some adversity to bring home the victory as they seem to have done all year!  Kudos to the team on a great year and a well deserved championship!

/there is a thing called VCR.  You might want to look into it!

Lol, we do have DVR on the tv, but I didn't even think of it.  Let's say I only watched the last 50 seconds LIVE.  I've since enjoyed the replay.  GO VALPO GO!

[oklahomamick]

I can't find the all tournament team.  Can someone post?

[bbtds]

I can't find the all tournament team.  Can someone post?

Harris-UIC, Sykes-GB, Nickerson-Valpo, Skara-Valpo, Peters-Valpo.

[agibson]

With Peters MVP.

[VULB#62]

Bailed out of work early out here on the left coast (2 hour time delta) and got to the hotel room at the half and down 6. Couldn't believe we only hit for 19 freaking points in 20 minutes of BB!

For the next 15 game minutes I thought we would blow it. But then the energy flow visibly changed. GB played like  first half Valpo and Valpo morphed into a clawing, determined defender. Loved  seeing EVN rousing the crowd -- not a usual ARC happening. Still, could not get my BP down until we had a sizable lead with under a minute left.

Got a congratulatory text from my son in Boston -- the Valpo win is a coast to coat phenomenon !  And this was supposed to happen NEXT year 

[nkvu]

Regardless of what they do in the dance this is a gutsy gutsy team.  Can they take the next step and beat a big school on what we hope is a neutral court?  We shall see.

[bbtds]

the Valpo win is a coast to coat phenomenon

I think you're subconsciously thinking about the fact you missed a Massachusetts record snowfall this winter by moving to Wisconsin before it happened.

[valpopal]

Vashil Fernandez with a statement dunk. The statement: "Make room for three more banners in those rafters!"

[valpopal]

To those watching ESPN who never heard of him: "His name is 'Skara'—starts with an 'S'...as in 'Superman'!"

[valpopal]

Keith Carter: chalks up 8 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, two steals, and a block...as well one traumatized bench player for Green Bay! 

[a3uge]

Hope everyone made it back safely. I've never seen more carnage on the road in my life. Saw 5 or 6 tipped over semis, trucks mangled into other trucks, a tanker spill, and wheels all over the place. The fog allowed for 9 to 10 feet of visibility.

About the game: that was the first time I've sat in the Mezzanine, but man, the ARC got LOUD in the second half. The first half we went on that small 4-0 run after the timeout and we never looked back. We all stood for that last shot and got some momentum going out of the half (despite actually going down more in the second half).

Call me crazy, but I actually think one of the rims was more loose than the other. The rim seemed stiff in the first half and we couldn't seem to finish anything. In the second half we seemed to be rattling home everything. Maybe it's coincidence, but I could have sworn they were noticeably different. Is that a thing?

[valpotx]

Fun game to watch, but also had me cussing out loud in response to a few of our fast break mistakes lol.  It felt like we were going to get blown out at the beginning of the second half after we initially cut it to 2, and they got it back to 8.  Great heart and guts shown by the team!  I love seeing that Smits is very excited to be coming to Valpo and attends many of our games.  Those are the kids we want to have in our program, the ones that truly get what Valpo is about!  I really hope that I am able to attend my first NCAA game, so the committee needs to keep our site in the central US! 

I found this tidbit from ESPN's summary hilarious btw.  Someone didn't have many math classes growing up...

TIP-INS

Valparaiso: This was Valparaiso's third time playing for the Horizon League championship in the past four years.

Green Bay: This was the 21st appearance in the Horizon League championship game for the Phoenix, but first since 1998. Green Bay won its lone tournament title in 1995, its first season in the conference.

[wh]

Gatorade shower for Bryce:

http://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=815811208474598

[wh]

Wardle post game press conference:

http://www.greenbayphoenix.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=22500

[bbtds]

Call me crazy, but I actually think one of the rims was more loose than the other. The rim seemed stiff in the first half and we couldn't seem to finish anything. In the second half we seemed to be rattling home everything. Maybe it's coincidence, but I could have sworn they were noticeably different. Is that a thing?

[oklahomamick]

Our bench out scored them 25-3.  We are a complete team.  Even with the injuries we overcame. 

Bryce said he was blessed with the kids and opportunity to coach.  We are blessed as fans for the job that he has done and the kids that we have to root for.  We have a really good kids on the team.  they repretation the school well. 

I found a quick video on the HL website and peters was very humble about his Mvp award.  Laughed that he wasn't deserving and couldn't find the bottom of the net.  Gave thanks to God, teammates and coaches. 

I know I know let's enjoy the championship before such talk, but I sure hope everyone stays including the coaching staff.  I like max Joseph and think he would start as a freshman at any of the other HL schools.  I know he's good friends with t.walker but I hope he isn't frustrated with his playing time. 

[IrishDawg]

Nice win last night guys, and congrats on being the first team from Indiana to punch its tourney ticket.  I haven't watched a ton of Valpo's games this year (probably 5 or so not including the conference tourney), but I think if you get the right matchup in the tourney, you guys could do some damage.  Lot of length on this team, and if you can pack the lane defensively and not have to worry about multiple shooters, it's going to be very difficult to score on you.  Certainly don't want to see a Horizon League rematch in the tourney this year, that's for sure.  Congrats again, and good luck the rest of the way!

[zvillehaze]

Nice win last night guys, and congrats on being the first team from Indiana to punch its tourney ticket.  I haven't watched a ton of Valpo's games this year (probably 5 or so not including the conference tourney), but I think if you get the right matchup in the tourney, you guys could do some damage.  Lot of length on this team, and if you can pack the lane defensively and not have to worry about multiple shooters, it's going to be very difficult to score on you.  Certainly don't want to see a Horizon League rematch in the tourney this year, that's for sure.  Congrats again, and good luck the rest of the way!

Totally agree with this ... congrats!     After last year, it will be great to see a few Indiana teams dancing.  The 2nd half defense was tremendous.  Sykes is a great player, but he can't do it by himself against a defense packed in the lane.  When no other GB players seemed ready to step up and hit shots, the game was over.  Best of luck in the tourney, unless you get that matchup IrishDawg mentioned.     Lots of 5/6 seeds will be disappointed if they draw Valpo.

[a3uge]

Green Bay made one field goal in the last 12 minutes.

The 15-0 run we made, GB was scoreless for 7 min, 25 sec. In that span they had 5 turnovers, went 0-6 and missed 2 free throws.

The entire second half they went 1-11 on 3s and shot only 25% and committed 9 turnovers. We shot 47%, made 13-17 FTs only only had 4 turnovers. Tale of two halves.

In the first half we had a 7 min scoreless drought ourselves, but kept in the game by limiting UWGB to 36%. We simply shot better on the stiff rim.

[classof2014]

Nobody has mentioned it but the it sure seems to me the player who wins Player of the Year during the regular season may come with a curse...

The last 5 players to win the PoY, didn't win the tournament.

Norris Cole 10/11 - Lost in the semis
Ryan Broekhoff 11/12 - Lost in the finals
Ray McCallum 12/13 - Lost in the semis
Keifer Sykes 13/14 - Lost in the semis
Keifer Sykes 14/15 - Lost in the finals

The worst regular season finish of any of those teams in the regular season was Cleveland State 10/11 squad that finished 3rd in the standings. Other than that it was either first or second place team that had the player who won the award.

I'm starting it now... the curse of the PoY

[talksalot]

Wait'll Next Year !

[valpopal]

[tweet]575664882718220288[/tweet]

[BrownTown]

Wow.  Not sure I've seen a Valpo team with this much character in all the years I've been watching them.  Sure, Green Bay shot horribly, but credit our second-half defense; it was definitely the key to victory last night.  SO GLAD THEY'VE PROVEN ME WRONG; to do what they did virtually without BOTH Walkers AND a cold Peters... amazing.  Nobody thought David Skara would step up the way he did, and without him, we're not celebrating another trip to The Big Dance.  Conversely, if we had been told Skara would be our leading scorer, I'd say most of us would've gulped in disappointment.  I could write a novel about how deep this team has been this season, but hey, that would be preaching to a joyous, happy choir.  Hopefully we can make a little noise!  Go Valpo!

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Harris-UIC, Sykes-GB, Nickerson-Valpo, Skara-Valpo, Peters-Valpo.

HEY LOOK WE HAD FOUR OF THE FIVE ... um... oh, right.

[valpopal]

[tweet]575673527031889920[/tweet]