Sophomore Cooper Schwieger (Overland Park, Kan. / Blue Valley Southwest) turned in his best performance of the season to date and posted a double-double of 22 points and 11 rebounds to lead a balanced effort as the Valparaiso University men's basketball team defeated Lindenwood 77-64 on Thursday night at the Athletics-Recreation Center. Junior Darius DeAveiro (Kanata, Ottawa, Canada / Orangeville Prep) reached a significant career milestone by handing out his 300^th assist, becoming just the 15^th player in program history to hit that number.
 
How It Happened

• Making his first collegiate start, freshman All Wright (Durango, Mexico / Link Year) provided an early lift by drilling a 3 for the first Beacon bucket. He scored seven of the team's first 11 points, but Valpo trailed for the bulk of the first 12 minutes.  
• The Beacons were down 18-13 before a 3 by Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro (LaSalle, Quebec, Canada / Orangeville Prep [Western Michigan]) was followed by a go-ahead trey from Isaiah Shaw (Phoenix, Ariz. / Davidson Academy [GCU], who put Valpo ahead 19-18 with 7:36 left in the first half, representing the team's first lead since 5-3.
• The teams exchanged leads for several minutes before freshman Justus McNair (Joliet, Ill. / Joliet West)
• buried a fastbreak 3 to up the Valpo lead to five with 2:18 left in the first half. The Beacons had pushed the lead to seven at 39-32 by the time the two teams went into the locker room.
• The Lions shot at a higher clip than the Beacons in the opening half, but Valpo held a 12-5 edge in the turnover battle, leading to five more field-goal attempts for the hosts and a 9-2 advantage in made free throws.
• Junior Devon Ellis (Schaumburg, Ill. / Conant) had three straight baskets including a traditional 3-point play early in the second half to bolster the lead to 11 at 47-36 with 16:33 on the clock. A tip-in by Schwieger at the 15:43 mark gave Valpo its first double-figure cushion.
• The lead fluctuated between seven and 10 for much of the half. Schwieger's old-fashioned 3-point play widened the gap to 11 at the 7:27 mark.
• Valpo cruised down the stretch. De La Cruz Monegro drained a 3 with 21 seconds remaining to account for the game's final margin.

Inside the Game

• DeAveiro's milestone assist came with 9:48 left in the first half on a basket by Schwieger. The senior point guard became just the 15^th player in program history to reach that milestone and first since Keith Carter in 2016.
• DeAveiro, who had nine assists on the night, surpassed Carter on the program's all-time assists list on Thursday, climbing to 14^th in program history with 307 for his career.
• Schwieger's 22 points represented his highest output of the season and highest since 28 in last year's regular-season finale vs. Illinois State. This marked his fourth collegiate double-double and second in the first four games this year.
• Schwieger's team-high 11 rebounds marked his second double-figure effort on the glass in the last three games after a career-high 14 on Nov. 8 vs. Concordia. He had an efficient shooting performance, going 9-of-12 from the floor while also swatting two shots.
• This marked Schwieger's first career "20&10" game. The last Valpo player with a 20-point double-double was Ben Krikke (34 points, 10 rebounds) on Feb. 19, 2023 at UIC.
• Shaw produced 12 points, his second double-figure scoring output of the year. Ellis has scored 13 or more in all four games this season, including a baker's dozen exactly on Thursday. De La Cruz Monegro tallied his fourth consecutive double-figure game with 11.
• Free-throw shooting remained a strong point for the Brow & Gold, who have hit at least 79 percent of their free throws in all four games and are now shooting 82.9 percent at the stripe this year. Valpo went 19-of-22 (86.4 percent) on Thursday.
• Valpo held a 21-8 advantage in bench points and outscored the Lions 20-9 in the paint.
• This marked Valpo's largest margin of victory against a Division-I opponent since a 71-51 win at Illinois State on Jan. 21, 2023 and the largest margin of victory against a D-I opponent during the Roger Powell Jr. head coaching era so far.

Postgame Press Conference
Click here to view the postgame press conference.
 
Up Next
The Beacons (2-2) will continue a busy stretch on Sunday as Eastern Illinois visits the ARC for a 1 p.m. tip. For ticket information, visit tickets.valpoathletics.com.