CLEVELAND (AP) Alec Peters scored 15 points, including a critical four-point play with 1:11 to play, to lead Valparaiso to the Horizon League regular-season championship for the third time in four seasons with a 56-53 win over Cleveland State on Friday night.
Valparaiso (25-6, 13-3) was up 10 with less than three minutes to play when Cleveland State (17-13, 11-5) got a 3-pointer from Andre Yates and used a turnover for a Marlin Mason trey to make it 49-45 with 1:37 to play.
But on the next possession Keith Carter found Peters in the right corner for a 3 and a foul.
Anton Grady, the Vikings' leading scorer at 14 points a game, made his only basket (he had five points and 13 rebounds) but Darien Walker made two free throws with 30 seconds left. Walker, who had 13 points, only hit one of four free throws after that but Cleveland State only managed two 3s from Trey Lewis, the last at the buzzer.
Lewis finished with 13 points.
