GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — Green Bay defeated Purdue Fort Wayne 64-56 Tuesday night at the Kress Center to advance to the next round of the Horizon League Tournament in Indianapolis.
The fifth-seeded Phoenix improved to 18-14 with the win and advanced to the tournament’s next round for the first time since the 2019-20 season. Green Bay will wait for results from the rest of the league to determine its opponent in Indianapolis.
Marcus Hall led Green Bay with 19 points. Justin Allen added 13 points, while Preston Ruedinger finished with 11 points and a game-high eight assists.
As a team, Green Bay recorded 16 assists and committed just seven turnovers.
Corey Hadnot II led Purdue Fort Wayne with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists. Deangelo Elisee scored 14 points and DeAndre Craig added 12 for the Mastodons, who finished the season 17-15.
Green Bay jumped out to an early lead, going ahead 10-2 after a Hall three-pointer with 15:47 remaining in the first half. The Phoenix continued to build on that advantage and took a 34-22 lead into halftime.
Purdue Fort Wayne opened the second half on a 13-5 run to cut the deficit to 39-35. Later in the half, Green Bay used an 8-0 run to push the lead to 54-43 with 5:28 remaining.
The Mastodons responded with a 9-0 run, pulling within 54-52 after a Mikale Stevenson three-pointer with just over two minutes to play. Green Bay sealed the win at the free-throw line, going 8-for-8 in the final two minutes. Ruedinger made six of those attempts.
The Phoenix shot 46.8 percent from the field and held Purdue Fort Wayne to 40.4 percent shooting and 20.8 percent from three-point range.
Green Bay will play its next game Sunday or Monday at Corteva Coliseum in Indianapolis in the Horizon League Tournament quarterfinals.
