Friday, December 31, 2004

Las Vegas, Nev. - Valpo drained eight 3-point baskets in the second half and went on to defeat Longwood 75-68 in the Crusaders' final game of the Las Vegas Holiday Classic. Dan Oppland led Valpo (4-8) with 22 points, while Seth Colclasure added a career-high 16, which included four treys in the second half. Oppland was named to the all-tournament team.

Ron Howard finished with 10 for the Crusaders and Jimmie Miles added nine. Valpo made 16 of 17 free throw attempts and finished with 11 3-pointers in 21 attempts.

Valpo concludes the four-game-in-four-days road trip with a 2-2 record.

Oppland becomes the first player in Valpo history to earn all-tournament honors in two separate tournaments on the same road trip as he was also named to the Arizona State Holiday Classic Team.

Valpo hosts Western Illinois Tuesday in the Mid-Continent Conference opener at 7:05 p.m.