LaVonte Dority scored 20 points in his debut with Valparaiso, leading the Crusaders to a 62-54 victory over Missouri State on Saturday night.
Dority, who sat out the first semester after transferring from South Florida at the semester break last year, came off the bench to hit 4 of 7 field goals, including 3 of 6 3-pointers, and 9 of 10 free throws in 24 minutes.
Ryan Broekhoff added 15 points and nine rebounds for Valparaiso (7-3) and Bobby Capobianco had 10 points.
Missouri State (2-8), which lost its sixth straight, got 14 points from Marcus Marshall and 13 apiece from Christian Kirk and Anthony Downing.
The Bears shot 44 percent - compared to 40.5 for Valparaiso - and hit 4 of 6 3-pointers. But Missouri State was outrebounded 37-19 and was just 6 for 12 from the free-throw line while the Crusaders converted 25 of 36 free throws.
