After a mad scramble on the floor for the ball, Bakari Evelyn took a pass from Tevonn Walker from among a pile of bodies and nailed a straightaway 3-pointer.
Evelyn’s performance Sunday at the Athletics-Recreation Center and Valparaiso’s hustle were key factors in a 74-58 Missouri Valley win against Illinois State.
Evelyn, a sophomore guard who scored 22 points for his highest total in a conference game, praised the dirty work on the play by senior guards Walker and Max Joseph.
“Tevonn and Max were fighting, fighting to get the ball,” Evelyn said. “The two senior leaders have been doing that all year. ‘T’ (Walker) was able to rip it through, tough it through and get the ball. I caught it, I was open, so I let it go.”
Walker, who had 14 points, six rebounds and five assists — matching his career high — said he simply reacted and tried to make a play.
Crusaders coach Matt Lottich initially cringed at Evelyn’s shot, but liked the effort from the two Canadians to set up the basket.
“That fires me up more than anything, to see that fight and will and determination and toughness,” Lottich said. “I’m glad those guys are on our team.”
Evelyn’s 3-pointer was part of a 16-2 stretch the Crusaders (13-14, 4-10) used to open a 16-point lead. He had three 3-pointers and a lob for a dunk by Markus Golder, who finished with 16 points.
Joseph, who had 12 points, five rebounds and five assists, hit a 3-pointer to make it 67-51 with 3:26 left. He had powered up a shot to give Valparaiso a 51-44 lead before Taylor Bruninga’s 3-pointer drew the Redbirds (14-12, 8-6) to 51-49 with 7:25 left.
The Crusaders shot 49.1 percent (27-for-55), including 45 percent (9-for-20) from 3-point range. The Redbirds shot 37.9 percent (22-for-58), including 25 (8-for-32) in the second half.
Valparaiso, with Walker drawing the primary assignment, limited Illinois State standout Milik Yarbrough to 10 points, though the junior forward added 10 rebounds and five assists.
The Redbirds were without junior forward Phil Fayne (left ankle), third on the team in scoring at 15.5 points and the leader with 7.0 rebounds, and junior guard Keyshawn Evans (left knee), second on the team at 15.6 points.
“They had two key guys out, but if anyone knows anything about Illinois State, they’re very talented,” Lottich said.
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“What they wanted to do was really just get 50-50 balls, win toughness plays. For a while, they were doing that. It took us a while to get into a flow, get a rhythm. But the last four, five minutes, we won pretty much every toughness play. When you win plays like that, shots start to fall and stops start to coincide.”
To match up with the Redbirds, the Crusaders employed a small lineup for extended periods, with neither Derrik Smits nor Jaume Sorolla on the floor and John Kiser as the de facto center. The 6-foot-5 sophomore guard/forward tied his career high with nine rebounds and had a career-high two blocked shots in 30 minutes, also a career high.
“I just tried to do the most I can for the team,” Kiser said. “Coach asked me to play the ‘5.’ We were going small and switching everybody.”
Coach Dan Muller gave Valparaiso credit for ending Illinois State’s four-game win streak.
“They really competed, especially down the stretch,” he said. “Evelyn and Walker and Golder were awesome. We just didn’t play hard enough and we made a bunch of bad decisions.”
Twitter @MichaelOsipoff