Cory Johnson scored 20 points and Valparaiso defeated Cleveland State 64-58 on Sunday.
No other players scored in double figures for the Crusaders (12-5, 4-1 Horizon), but Howard Little had 11 rebounds, and Jay Harris scored nine points off the bench as Valparaiso's reserves outscored Cleveland State's 19-2.
Trevon Harmon led the Vikings (15-3, 4-2) with 20 points. Cleveland State has dropped its last two games, falling 79-56 at Butler on Friday.
Valparaiso trailed 19-8 with 5 minutes left in the first half before drawing within 21-18 at halftime. Little's lay-up with 16:28 left gave the Crusaders the lead for good at 31-29, and later a 10-0 run pushed the lead to 60-45 with 4:35 left.
Cleveland State scored the next 12 points, but Ryan Broekhoff's 3-pointer with 31 seconds left gave the Crusaders a 63-57 lead.
Aaron Pogue had 12 points and seven rebounds for the Vikings.
