Bench Boost Propels Beacons Over Panthers
On a day where No. 45 was celebrated as part of the Hall of Fame Class of 2026, the Valparaiso University men’s basketball team held UNI below the 45-point threshold on Saturday afternoon at the Athletics-Recreation Center.
Jersey No. 44 Sader Servilus (Montreal, Quebec, Canada / Fort Erie International Academy) made a positive impact on a day where the Beacons limited the Panthers to 44 points, prevailing 54-44 for a third consecutive home victory. As the past was celebrated as part of All-Sports Reunion Weekend, some of the electricity that was present in the ARC throughout Ryan Broekhoff’s illustrious career returned. Fifth-year senior Owen Dease (Evansville, Ind. / Evansville Reitz) poured in 20 points to pace the Beacons, who outscored UNI 21-0 in bench points.
How It Happened
- After UNI scored the game’s first four points, Valpo scored the next five to grab a 5-4 edge at the 15:01 mark on a stepback jumper by Brody Whitaker (Greencastle, Ind. / Greencastle [University of Indianapolis / Marian]).
- The Panthers regained the lead at 6-5, but Valpo went on a 10-0 run and the Beacons were in front 15-6. Owen Dease (Evansville, Ind. /Evansville Reitz [Texas A&M Corpus Christi]) swished a 3 that built the lead to nine with 7:54 on the clock.
- UNI reeled off nine straight points to even the game at 15 with 3:14 to go in the opening half. Mark Brown Jr. (South Phoenix, Ariz. / Bella Vista Prep [Snow College]) made a big 3 to beat the shot clock, and later Valpo scored the final four points of the half to go into the break ahead 22-18. Dease did the bulk of the opening-half damage, scoring 13 of the team’s 22.
- UNI scored nine straight to take a three-point lead early in the second half, and that bulge reached six at 32-26 with 13:42 to go. Justus McNair (Joliet, Ill. / Joliet West) had a traditional 3-point play to spark a 7-0, go-ahead run.
- Dease’s 3 with 8:08 left snapped a 38-all tie, but UNI eventually regained a 44-43 lead with 4:39 to play. A tip-in by Shon Tupuola (Brownsburg, Ind. / Brownsburg [Saint Mary-of-the-Woods]) with 4:08 left gave Valpo a 45-44 lead that it would not relinquish. The Tupuola second-chance basket started an 11-0 run to close the game. The Panthers did not score in the final 4:39.
- Servilus hit a huge 3 with 3:17 left to make it 48-44, then McNair added a bucket and the Beacons sealed it at the free-throw line.
Inside the Game
- Dease scored 20 points or more for the fifth time in the last eight games. He had seven boards on Saturday, matching his season high set on Jan. 1 at Southern Illinois.
- The Valpo bench outscored UNI’s bench 21-0. McNair at +18, Servilus at +16, Brown at +13, Carter Hopoi (Tauranga, New Zealand / Mount Maunganui College NZ]) at +11 and Isaiah Barnes (Chicago, Ill. / Simeon Career Academy [Tulsa/Michigan]) at +9 all had great plus-minus numbers in reserve roles.
- Both teams shot 33.3 percent from the field and Valpo was 26.3 percent from 3 to UNI’s 20 percent. Valpo outscored UNI 15-2 at the stripe as the Panthers shot just 28.6 percent at the free-throw line to Valpo’s 75 percent (15-of-20).
- McNair finished with eight points and five rebounds, while Servilus gobbled up five rebounds, his highest total against a Division-I opponent this season. JT Pettigrew (Lisle, Ill. / Bolingbrook) had five rebounds as well, meaning four Beacons had at least five. Valpo outrebounded UNI 40-37.
- The 44 points were the fewest allowed by the Beacons since holding Southern Illinois to 38 on Feb. 12, 2020. This marked only the second time in the last nine seasons that Valpo held an opponent to fewer than 45 points.
- The Panthers had the lowest field-goal percentage by a Valpo opponent in conference play this season and the second lowest 3-point percentage by a Valpo opponent this season behind UIC.
- The Beacons again took good care of the basketball, committing just seven turnovers, the team’s lowest total in league play this year and lowest since six on Dec. 13 vs. UNCW.
- Fitting on a weekend of celebrating the past, the final score was identical to the 2015 Horizon League title game vs. Green Bay, when Valpo won 54-44 to clinch an NCAA Tournament berth, the team’s most recent NCAA appearance.
- Valpo was a 33-game losing streak when scoring 55 points or fewer prior to Saturday. It marked their first victory under those circumstances since the aforementioned 2015 title game.
- Valpo had just four assists, the team’s fewest in a victory since beating UNCW 79-70 on Nov. 25, 2017.
- Valpo owns its second three-game home winning streak of the season (Eastern Illinois, Nicholls and Bryant). This is the team’s first three-game home winning streak in league play since 2019-2020 (Southern Illinois, Bradley, Missouri State).
Postgame Press Conference
Click here for postgame press conference.
Up Next
Valpo (9-10, 3-5 MVC) will host Southern Illinois on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the ARC on Fan Appreciation Night. For tickets, visit tickets.valpoathletics.com.