For the second straight game, the Valparaiso University men's basketball team rallied from a double-figure deficit to take a late lead, but once again the Beacons couldn't close out the comeback, this time falling 81-74 to visiting UIC on Saturday afternoon at the Athletics-Recreation Center.
 
How It Happened

• An early 8-0 run helped Valpo race out to an 8-2 lead, the final points of which were scored on a driving layup by freshman All Wright (Durango, Mexico / Link Year) at 16:32 of the first half. UIC rallied to tie the game at nine on a dunk at the 14:43 mark.
• A triple by Ahmad Henderson helped the Flames build up an 18-13 lead at 11:42 of the first half, and a second chance layup by Sasa Ciani made it 20-13.
• The first-half Flames lead peaked at eight, but Valpo got back to within two when Wright hit a 3 with 7:42 on the clock. Darius DeAveiro (Kanata, Ottawa, Canada / Orangeville Prep) knocked down a big 3 at the 5:01 mark to shrink the lead to one at 28-27, and Valpo got all the way back to even on two free throws by Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro (LaSalle, Quebec, Canada / Orangeville Prep [Western Michigan]) that made it 31-all with 3:40 to go.
• DeAveiro swished another 3 with 1:41 left in the half, and a traditional 3-point play by Kaspar Sepp (Tartu, Estonia / Fairmont Academy) with six seconds on the clock helped the Beacons draw even at 38-38 going into the break.
• UIC built up a five-point lead early in the second half, but a big 3 by Tyler Schmidt (Valparaiso, Ind. / Victory Christian Academy) trimmed the deficit to two. The Flames scored the next four and eventually pushed the lead to seven with 11:34 left in the second half.
• UIC owned its first double-figure cushion after two free throws with eight minutes on the clock, and the lead peaked at 11 with 6:36 remaining after a 3 by Henderson.
• A 6-0 run composed of 3-point plays by both Wright and Cooper Schwieger (Overland Park, Kan. / Blue Valley Southwest [Link Year]) whittled the deficit to five.
• After trailing 69-63 with 4:30 remaining, Valpo scored seven straight to take a 70-69 lead on a 3 by Wright with 3:12 on the clock. However, UIC responded by scoring the next eight points to take a 77-70 advantage with 1:20 remaining, and seven points stood as the final margin.

Inside the Game

• The Flames held a 44-32 advantage on the glass and a 15-9 edge on the offensive boards. UIC outscored Valpo 20-7 on second-chance points.
• Valpo returned to form in terms of taking care of the basketball, holding a 10-9 edge in the turnover battle after giving it away 17 times in the previous game.
• This marked the third straight game that Valpo was even or ahead in field goal percentage but came up on the wrong end on the scoreboard. Both teams shot exactly 44.1 percent (26-of-59) from the field, while UIC was slightly better from both 3-point range and the free-throw line. The Beacons were just 16-of-24 (66.7 percent) from the stripe.
• The defeat snapped a four-game home winning streak for the Beacons.
• Wright paced the team with 18 points while also handing out five assists. This marked the fourth time this season Wright has scored 18 points or more and the assist total was his highest against a Division-I opponent.
• Schmidt tied a season best with four assists while also tallying 17 points, his eighth game with 15 points or more.
• De La Cruz Monegro ended a three-game double-figure drought with his 14^th double-figure scoring effort of the season, tallying 10 points on Saturday.
• Schwieger finished with 14 points, his 10^th straight game with a dozen or more.
• Sepp squeezed a team-high eight rebounds while also scoring seven points. He's pulled down seven rebounds or more 11 times this year.

Up Next
Valpo (10-9, 3-5 MVC) will hit the road to close out a travel-heavy stretch of playing three out of four away from home. The Beacons visit Drake for a 6:30 p.m. start on Wednesday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.