Valpo Loses Critical Home Game - In Part, To 3 Blind Refs

My Last BLOG Post mentioned my one concern regarding Valpos game tonight against Loyola; that they would be looking forward to the In-State showdown in 10 days against Butler and not focus against the 6-13 Loyola Ramblers! I did not even think officiating would play into the game, but it did! In what I would say was one of the most poorly officiated games I had ever seen, Valparaiso's Crusaders took a huge blow in the conference standings by a 65-63 loss to (Lower Power Rated team at # 277) the Ramblers of Loyola.

Valpo once again, as it has all year long, started out very slow! You have to give credit to Loyola, who went 7 for 11 from behind the arc, not bad one would say...considering the Ramblers average only 4- 3 pointers per game. This was incredible shooting, the basket for them must have looked huge, because they were hitting 3's from literally all over the floor. Valpo found themselves down by as much as 11 points, the biggest deficit at home this season and it looked bleak when star forward Shawn Huff went down with 2 minutes left in the first half with what looked like to be at the very least a game ending injury. Valpo once again trailed 41-34 at half.

It was in the 2nd half that the officiating began its downward deterioration, thanks to really all 3 refs. Honestly, I have no idea how they earned their strips? Wow..bad call, after bad call, after bad call! It was not long before Jake Dielber was sitting out on the pine. Insert Howard Little (for the fouled out Deibler). What an incredible performance by this kid! His defensive stops against Loyola's J.R. Blount was the spark Valpo needed. It propelled them to a 7 point lead with under 5 minutes to go. Things looked good, but then, the officiating turned, Let's be polite and say..."disgusting". You may wonder how I am so sure of the missed calls? Sitting in the 1st row for home games, I get very clear views of each play. Only 2 minutes later, Howard Little was Valpo's second player sitting on the bench with his 5th foul and from that point on, Loyola never looked back. Valparaiso's Jarryd Loyd had one last shot from just behind the arch to win it for Valpo, but it was short. His attempt was about 5 feet from me and I could see and hear Loyola's player slapping Loyd's wrist, causing this pure sharp shooter come up short, but NO call and funny it was the same ref that was calling the fouls on Diebler and Little. I can only hope that the Horizon League of Officials look and review the tape of this game!

On a positive note, I have to say that Howard Little may have just come out of the shell and become a solid "go to" player! He was awesome tonight in the loss. Urele Igbavoda performed well, (snagging 11 rebounds) but he needed help and never got it on the boards. Valpo was 13-19 from the charity line and those 6 misses may have helped in the end. Shawn Huff who was injured at the end of the first half, started the 2nd half, but after 5 minutes never played again. Concern shifts to his health and status for the next game, albeit, he has 9 days to rest and heal and Valpo is going to need him back!

The Horizon League is physical and demanding! Every game played hard. IF Valpo had won tonight's contest it would have set up a huge showdown on February 5th - it would have been a battle for 1st place in the Horizon League, BUT, Valpo did not win and now the stage is all set for the next Home GAME Valparaiso Crusaders vs Butler Bulldogs - February 5th 2008 - Game Time is 9:00pm Eastern and on National T.V. ESPN2 - It will be a sold out - wild and crazy atmosphere at the ARC in Valparaiso, Indiana. IF you wanna see just what they call Hoosier Hysteria, tune in, and watch this game, it is sure to be incredible!

Just a side note..I would bet the officiating crew at tonight's game WILL NOT be assigned to this next one - LOL

editorial by Jeff Safrin

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