Louisiana La. routs Valpo in tourney opener

TUCSON, Ariz. -- It didn't seem to matter which starting five Valparaiso coach Homer Drew sent out on the floor Sunday against Louisiana-Lafayette.

The Ragin' Cajuns ran past every possible combination Drew could turn to on their way to a 95-71 blowout win over the Crusaders in the first round of the Fiesta Bowl Classic at the McKale Center.

The Crusaders, who have now lost six of their last seven, will face Liberty Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the consolation game.

The 95 points are the most surrendered by a Valpo team since a 100-96 loss to Northeastern Illinois back in the 1995-96 season.

"Oh my goodness, they just ran right past us, one through five," Drew said. "We gave up too many easy baskets. The speed was just too much for us."

Drew shuffled his starting lineup with sophomore Seth Colclasure replacing junior Ali Berdiel, but it didn't stop Louisiana-Lafayette (4-3) from jetting out to a 25-10 lead in less than eight minutes.

Valpo trailed by as much as 36-18 in the first half but a freshman-dominated unit of Jimmie Miles, Oumar Sylla, Moussa Mbaye, Mike Oppland and Dan Oppland gave the Crusaders (2-6) some energy and helped them trim the lead to 47-36 at the break.

So Drew went with that group to start the second half. It didn't work, as the Cajuns quickly stormed to a 62-44 lead that Valpo never recovered from.

"I thought our freshmen did a good job of getting us back in it at the half," Drew said. "But everyone we went to, we just struggled with a combination."

The Crusaders didn't do much, if anything, right. They committed 21 turnovers, shot 20 percent (3-of-15) from 3-point range and allowed Louisiana-Lafayette to shoot 50.8 percent from the floor, with many of their points coming in transition, an area Drew said he stressed to his team coming into the game.

Cedric Williams had a game-high 23 points and eight rebounds off the bench, in just 18 minutes of playing time while Brian Hamilton and Brad Boyd each added 17 points.

Kikas Gomes turned in his fourth straight double-double for Valpo with 17 points and 10 boards. Dan Oppland was the only other Crusader in double figures with 14 points. The pair combined to shoot 13-of-21 from the field. The Crusaders shot 48 percent from the field and 86 percent from the free-throw line.

"Hopefully we can learn from this," Drew said. "Our freshmen are starting to understand how hard we have to play. We will get better."

Two of those freshmen -- Oumar Sylla and Kenny Harris -- showed some effectiveness as Sylla had six points and three rebounds while Harris had eight points, but did not grab a rebound in 11 minutes.

A loss against Liberty would drop Valpo to 2-7 and mark the team's worst start to a season since the 1992-93 team started 2-8. That team finished the season at 12-16.

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