Hoosiers hold off Valpo

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Tom Coverdale saved his best for last, saving the perfect record of Indiana in its Hoosier Classic.\nCoverdale scored nine of his 17 points in the final seven minutes as Indiana held off Valparaiso 63-60 in Friday night\'s championship game of the 19th Hoosier Classic.\n\"We knew we had to have this game as far as having momentum going into the Big Ten,\" said Coverdale, voted the tournament\'s most valuable player.\n\"We weren\'t really playing the best basketball that we can play and coach (John) Treloar told me, \'We got to get \'em going.\' So I just looked for my shot a little more, and tried to set people up.\"\nCoverdale connected on two 3-pointers in succession as the Hoosiers (9-5) moved ahead to stay at 54-51.\nKirk Haston, who contributed 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds, was also named to the all-tournament team. Freshman Andre Owens, who led Indiana with 20 points in its opening-game victory, joined Valparaiso\'s Lubos Barton and Jason Jenkins on the all-tournament team.\nValparaiso (9-4) had the consolation of knowing that it came closer than any other Indiana opponent in the tournament, which the Hoosiers have never lost. The previous mark was a 72-66 loss by Boston College in 1983.\n\"I told our guys before the game that it would be close because this team beat Ohio State,\" Indiana coach Mike Davis said.\n\"Coverdale stepped up and played well. I wanted to give him a rest. He said he was OK. He proved it by making the big shots.\"\nTwo free throws by Jenkins, who led the Crusaders with 18 points, made it 54-53 with 3:45 remaining. The Hoosiers then appeared to take control on a three-point play by Jared Jeffries and a 3-pointer by Andre Owens, who took a pass from Coverdale and got the ball off before the shot clock expired.\nA driving layup by Coverdale made it 62-53. Valparaiso refused to quit, scoring on two free throws by Jenkins and a layup by Barton. Coverdale then made one of two free throws with 31.3 seconds to go and Jenkins closed the scoring with a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded.\n\"I knew it was going to be a difficult game when I was outside the locker room and the IU cheerleaders kept filing out, then the dancing group, then the men. I think there are more IU cheerleaders than students at Valparaiso,\" said Valparaiso coach Homer Drew, who will have to wait until next week before making another attempt at producing victory No. 1000 by the Crusaders.\n\"The two big plays were Coverdale\'s 3 that he hit, and Owens had the ball in the air, the clock goes off, and it goes in,\" Drew said. \"If they miss that, the last 30 seconds could have been very, very exciting for the fans and for all of us out there.\"\nValparaiso had tied the game for the 11th time on two free throws by Barton, who played nearly the entire second half with four personals and never fouled out while scoring 17 points.\nBoth teams started the second half cold. Valparaiso had three turnovers and missed its first five shots before Dwayne Toatley\'s jumper tied the game at 32 with 14:17 left in the game. Indiana\'s only score in the half had come on a dunk by Jared Jeffries on a pass underneath by Kirk Haston.\nThe first half ended in a 30-30 tie when Coverdale threw in a 3-pointer at the buzzer from about 35 feet. It was the fifth deadlock in a half that included four lead changes with neither team leading by more than four points.\n\"Kirk got the rebound and I got it and I just drove down the floor and I saw two seconds left, so I knew I had time to take a couple of more dribbles and I just got a little lucky,\" Coverdale said.