“I’ve coached a long time, and I’m pretty sure we’ve never turned it over 22 times and won a basketball game,” WSU coach Scott Nagy said. “We shot 54 percent. If you cut (the turnovers) in half, you’re talking about 22 points that you threw away to the other team.”
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It was the second loss in a row for the Raiders, who fell to 19-11 overall and 10-7 in the Horizon League.
Valpo (24-6, 14-2) won for the 13th time in 15 games and clinched at least a share of its fifth regular-season championship in six years.
“They had a lot to play for, and not having their best player with them, a lot of other kids stepped up for them,” Nagy said.
Lexus Williams scored a season-high 19 points and Tevonn Walker added 17 as the Crusaders shot 57 percent (16 of 28) in the second half, including 75 percent (6 of 8) from 3-point range.
“A lot of those were just run-outs because we just didn’t do a very good job taking care of the ball,” Nagy said.
Peters, who averages 23 points and 10.1 rebounds, saw his streak of 134 consecutive starts snapped due a lower leg injury. It’s unclear whether he will be available for Sunday’s game at Northern Kentucky, where Valpo can win the title outright and clinch the No. 1 seed for the tournament.
Mark Alstork led the Raiders with a game-high 28 points, giving him 1,006 during his two seasons at WSU and 1,173 including the 167 he scored at Ball State as a freshman.
“It’s a credit to my teammates and God and my family, and it means my hard work is paying off,” said Alstork, who also ran his streak of consecutive free throws to 33 before missing his final attempt.
>>>>VIDEO: Alstork scores 1,000th point
Alstork’s 1,000th point came on a 3-pointer that tied the game at 60 with 8:45 to go, but Williams answered with a trey 15 seconds later to give Valpo the lead for good.
The Crusaders got 26 of their 84 points off WSU turnovers.
The Raiders committed 13 of the 22 in the second half.
“We weren’t protective of the ball or aggressive,” Alstork said. “It was us playing on our heels. It didn’t have anything to do with them. They don’t pressure. It was just a mental lapse for us.”
Steven Davis scored 14 points for WSU, Grant Benzinger added 12 and Justin Mitchell contributed nine to go along with a game-high eight rebounds as the Raiders out-rebounded Valpo 28-25.
“We shot 54 percent, 5o percent from 3, 80 percent from the free-throw line, out-rebounded them and had 17 assists and lost the game,” Nagy said. “I mean that’s unbelievable. Twenty-two turnovers, that’s all you’ve got to look at. Just not fundamental. Throwing one-handed, underhand passes, one-handed hook passes, trying to be a hero, no-look. Those are hard lessons to learn.”
The Raiders will try to end the regular season on a winning note when they play host to Illinois-Chicago at 2 p.m. Sunday for Senior Day as they honor Mike La Tulip and Davis.
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