Valparaiso 68, Texas A&amp,M-Corpus Christi 62

Published Nov. 27, 2010 7:13 p.m. ET

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Cory Johnson scored 18 points to lead Valparaiso past Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 68-62 in the final round of the Las Vegas Invitational on Saturday afternoon.

Howard Little added 13 points and eight rebounds for Valparaiso (4-2). In the final 1:44, the Crusaders went 8 of 8 from the free-throw line to pull away from the Islanders (2-5).

Demond Watt led Texas A&M-Corpus Christi with 14 points and nine rebounds. Justin Reynolds had 13 points and six rebounds for the Islanders.

Valparaiso led 27-26 at halftime, and after five lead changes early in the second half, the Crusaders took the lead for good at 35-32 on a Little 3-pointer with 17:48 left. The Islanders cut the lead to 58-57 with 2:26 remaining, but the Crusaders went on a 8-0 run to put it away.