DeAveiro Tallies Career High in Setback to Bradley
The Valparaiso University men’s basketball team fell to Bradley 86-61 in the Missouri Valley Conference opener on Wednesday night at the Athletics-Recreation despite an inspired effort from point guard Darius DeAveiro (Kanata, Ottawa, Canada / Orangeville Prep), who enjoyed the top performance of his collegiate career with 19 points.
How It Happened
• Bradley started the game on a 10-0 run before DeAveiro knocked down a triple to get Valpo on the board with 14:04 left in the first half.
• After the Braves bolstered the lead to 11, Kaspar Sepp (Tartu, Estonia / Fairmont Academy) took a bite out of the deficit by hitting a 3-pointer to make it 14-6.
• The Beacons again cut the deficit to eight when Jaxon Edwards (Indianapolis, Ind. / Cathedral [Murray State]) knocked down a shot at the 7:05 mark of the half, but Bradley responded with back-to-back triples to up the lead to 14.
• The first-half gap peaked at 19 with 1:04 on the clock, but Valpo scored the final four points of the stanza to go into the break down 15 at 44-29.
• Valpo cut to within 10 when Jahari Williamson (Pickering, Ontario, Canada / Royal Crown Academy) hit a fastbreak 3 on an assist by DeAveiro early in the second half, but Bradley scored the next eight points to up the lead to 18.
• With 14:03 to play, former Valpo football player turned basketball walk-on Anthony Sciarroni (Columbus, Ohio / St. Francis DeSales [Alderson Broaddus at Findlay]) recorded his first collegiate points by drilling a 3.
• Other second-half highlights included a dunk by Edwards and a 4-point play by Williamson.
Inside the Game
• DeAveiro’s previous career high was 11 points, reached twice this season (Nov. 21 vs. Western Illinois, Nov. 29 vs. Drake).
• DeAveiro paced the team with seven rebounds, his second straight outing with seven boards, matching the career high that he set last time out on Dec. 29 at Elon. He added four assists and a steal while making just one turnover.
• Sciarroni saw 10 minutes of action for a team that was playing without leading scorer Isaiah Stafford, who missed the second straight game with an injury.
• Williamson tallied 12 points, his third double-figure scoring output in his last four games.
• Valpo’s shooting improved drastically after the break as the Beacons shot at a 50 percent clip (10-of-20) over the final 20 minutes. However, Valpo made 15 turnovers in the second half, more than the team had committed in any full game this season prior to Wednesday, when they uncharacteristically gave it away 20 times.
Up Next.
The Beacons (4-10, 0-3 MVC) will play their first road game of the calendar year on Saturday as they make the short jaunt to the Windy City for a 7 p.m. matchup with UIC. The game will air on ESPN+.