John Kizer drove the left side of the paint, drawing two defenders and passed to Eron Gordon for the winning layin as Valparaiso stormed from 18 points down to knock No. 2 seed Loyola out of the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference 74-73 in overtime Friday night.
Kiser finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocked shots for the seventh-seeded Crusaders. His late-game performance was invaluable. Kiser stole Loyola’s final possession in regulation, preventing a potential winning shot, and swatted what seemed like a gimme go-ahead bucket late in OT after Loyola stole the ball mere steps from the hoop.
Valparaiso (18-15), which trailed 45-27 early in the second half, had not beaten Loyola in seven straight meetings and has never before made the semifinal round of the conference tournament.
All nine Loyola players scored but only Keith Clemons reached double figures with a career-high 28 for the Ramblers (21-11), who were 1-for-10 shooting in overtime.
Ryan Fazekas had 15 points for Valparaiso (18-15). Daniel Sackey added 13 points and six rebounds. Donovan Clay had 10 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three blocks.
The MVC tournament lost its top two seeds, Northern Iowa and Loyola on Friday.
