Valpo Edged by Evansville in Narrow Road Setback

Valpo Edged by Evansville in Narrow Road Setback

Junior Isaiah Stafford drilled five 3-pointers and tied a career high with 31 points, but the Valparaiso University men’s basketball team came out on the wrong end of a back-and-forth thriller against Evansville at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., falling 78-75. Freshman Cooper Schwieger turned in his second straight double-double.

How It Happened

• Valpo scored the game’s first five points including a 3 by Darius DeAveiro that started the scoring.
• Evansville responded with a 10-0 run to take a 10-5 lead with 16:36 left in the opening half. The hosts opened up a 17-9 lead at the 13:45 mark and again led by 8 with 11:35 left in the half.
• The Beacons heated up as Jahari Williamson hit a 3 to slice the lead to 3, then Stafford hit one from long range to cut the lead to one. Williamson connected on another trey with nine minutes on the clock to even the score at 24.
• A 4-point play by Williamson briefly put Valpo back in front with 2:08 left in the half, but the Aces went into the break with a two-point edge.
• The second-half scoring started the same way the first half did when DeAveiro drilled a trey as the Beacons took a 41-40 lead. Evansville scored the next six to go back ahead by five before DeAveiro beat the shot clock by banking in a long-distance triple to cut the edge to two.
• The game was played within four points either way for the next stretch until UE upped the edge to six at 66-60 with 7:40 to play. Evansville freshman Chuck Bailey III, who heated up after halftime, hit a 3 to build it up to nine.
• Valpo used a 6-0 burst including Schwieger hitting a pair of shots to cut the lead to three. Stafford’s second-chance layup at the 2:44 mark cut it back to four, then Stafford hit a triple to make it a one-point game at 74-73 with 1:56 to play.
• Evansville upped the lead back to three, but a response from Schwieger made it 76-75 with 46 seconds left. The hosts hit two free throws with 19 seconds on the clock, then came up with a steal in the closing seconds to seal the win.

Inside the Game

• After recording his first collegiate double-double on Sunday at Illinois State, Schwieger made it two in a row with a 12-point, 10-rebound effort. Five of his boards came on the offensive glass.
• Stafford’s 31 points tied his career high set while playing for Southern Indiana vs. Lindenwood in the city of Evansville back on Feb. 26, 2022. His return to Evansville marked his best game in a Beacon uniform, eclipsing his season high of 30 at No. 23 Illinois.
• DeAveiro hit three triples en route to a 12-point, five-assist game. He also swiped three steals.
• Williamson hit three 3s of his own and was the fourth Beacon in double figures with 10 points.
• Evansville was hot from long range, hitting 3s at a 62.5 percent clip (10-of-16).
• Valpo’s 11 made 3s marked the team’s most since 14 in the season opener vs. Trinity Christian. That was the team’s most made 3s against a Division-I opponent this season.
• Valpo pulled down 14 offensive rebounds, outscoring UE 20-8 on second-chance points.
• The game featured 12 ties and nine lead changes.

Up Next

The Beacons (5-13, 1-6 MVC) will host UIC on Saturday at 3 p.m.