After Valparaiso’s surprisingly competitive 89-75 win Saturday night, Alec Peters had words of praise for Trinity Christian as the teams departed the Athletics-Recreation Center court.
“I let them know they gave us something we needed,” the senior forward said. “They kicked our butts. The score had us winning, but the reality is, they got the best of us. In the end, we just used our strength and our will to crawl back and win the game.
“They were tough to come in here, to a place that’s hard to win traditionally and give us something like that. I thanked them. Our team can learn a lot from this game.”
The Crusaders (2-0) trailed by as many as 16 points as late as five minutes left in the first half. They scored the final six points before halftime and outscored Trinity Christian 27-5 within nine minutes of the second half to lead 63-50.
Valparaiso led by as many as 17 points after taking its first lead, 50-48, on Max Joseph’s 3-pointer with 15 minutes left.
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But while coach Matt Lottich was happy the Crusaders responded, he was perplexed by their start. He was less concerned about Valparaiso shooting 1-for-15 from 3-point range in the first half than he was about allowing the Trolls to shoot 18-for-32, including 6-for-10 from 3.
He wasn’t using the fact the Crusaders played Friday, a 78-63 win against Southern Utah, as an excuse.
Trinity Christian (0-3), an NAIA Division II team, considered the game an exhibition.
“Obviously that was not what I expected coming into the game, not what anyone expected,” Lottich said. “Give Trinity Christian a lot of credit, they came in with a good game plan, shot the ball fantastic. In the first 20 minutes, we did not want to play defense.”
Peters was asked about the discussion at halftime.
“It wasn’t X’s and O’s; it was about our effort, energy and making them uncomfortable,” he said. “They were way too comfortable.”
Peters had 36 points, including three dunks, and 15 rebounds, matching his career high. Shane Hammink added 18 points and 10 rebounds, tying his career high. Jubril Adekoya had 13 points and six rebounds.
Increasing the energy in the second half, Lexus Williams tied a school record with seven steals, to go along with six points and seven assists. The junior point guard took Valparaiso’s struggles personally.
“I put that on myself,” Williams said. “As the point guard, it starts with me and I didn’t bring it at the start.”
With a game Monday against Coppin State (0-1), the Crusaders’ third in four days, they unexpectedly played each of their starters at least 30 minutes against the Trolls, with Peters playing 35. That group included Joseph, who was in the lineup with Tevonn Walker sidelined after getting hit in the mouth against Southern Utah.
Lottich said Walker’s status for Monday was uncertain, but fears about a possible broken jaw were allayed when tests came back negative. As it was, Walker spent part of Saturday getting three teeth repaired.
The Crusaders were planning to prepare Sunday with minimal high-intensity practice.
“We have to get our bodies right,” Peters said. “The team on Monday is going to be a lot better, a lot quicker, a lot faster, a lot stronger than the team we played (Saturday).”
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