VALPARAISO, Ind. -- Saint Mary's lost 60-44 to host Valparaiso in the NIT on Tuesday, falling short of reaching New York for the semfinals.
Saint Mary's was held scoreless for nine-plus minutes, spanning the halves, and missed it first 10 shots of the second half. Valparaiso's Tevonn Walker opened the second-half scoring with a 3-pointer to give the Crusaders a 32-31 lead -- their first since 17-16. Shane Hammink's putback extended it to 40-31 and capped a 16-0 run. The shooting troubles continued for Saint Mary's as the Gaels shot 20.7 percent in the second half and scored just 13 points.