An All Wright (Durango, Mexico / Link Year) second half for the Valparaiso University men's basketball team finished with the freshman standout driving to the basket for a game-winning layup in the closing seconds, lifting the Beacons to a dramatic 66-64 victory over Missouri State on Wednesday night at the Athletics-Recreation Center. The Beacons overcame a double-figure deficit thanks in part to Wright tallying 22 of his game-high 24 points in the second half, locking up the season sweep of the Bears.
 
How It Happened

• Missouri State raced out to a 5-1 lead, but a 3 by Kaspar Sepp (Tartu, Estonia / Fairmont Academy) helped Valpo close the gap to one.
• The Beacons tied the game at eight and 14 before taking their first lead at 15-14 with 12 minutes on the clock after two free throws by Justus McNair (Joliet, Ill. / Joliet West).
• It remained a seesaw affair with Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro (LaSalle, Quebec, Canada / Orangeville Prep [Western Michigan]) driving to the basket for a go-ahead layup at 18-17 with 7:27 to go in the half.
• The Bears went on a 7-0 run to take a 24-18 lead with 4:44 left in the first half. That lead ballooned to double figures after a 3 by Dez White with 2:50 on the clock to make it 30-20.
• The Beacons scored the last six points of the half including a bucket by sophomore Cooper Schwieger (Overland Park, Kan. / Blue Valley Southwest [Link Year]) to go into the intermission down just four at 30-26.
• De La Cruz Monegro had a 3-point play early in the second half to trim the lead to two at 35-33. The lead fluctuated between two and five for most of the half, but got all the way back up to eight with eight minutes to go and nine at 55-46 with 6:38 on the clock.
• Wright scored the next five points, setting off a stretch where he scored 16 points in the final 6:20.
• An 8-0 run culminated with a Wright triple at the 3:56 mark, giving Valpo a 59-57 lead, the team's first edge since 18-17 with 7:27 to go in the first half. A traditional 3-point play by Wright put Valpo back in front with 1:47 left, and then De La Cruz Monegro hit go-ahead free throws to make it 64-63 with 38 seconds remaining as the contest swayed back and forth.
• Missouri State split a pair of free throws with 25 seconds on the clock, creating a 64-all tie. Wright drove to the bucket for the game-winner with two seconds to go, setting off a celebratory scene at the ARC.

Inside the Game

• Wright scored 22 of his game-high 24 points after halftime including 20 points in the final 11:06. He went 9-of-10 at the free-throw line and drained three of his six 3-point attempts.
• Wright's second half produced the most points in a single half by a Beacon since Isaiah Stafford had 23 in the first half on Nov. 17 of last season at Illinois.
• Wright's game-winner with two seconds remaining marked Valpo's second game-winner in the closing seconds this season, joining Justus McNair's buzzer-beater at Western Michigan. This marked the 24^th game-winner in the final five seconds since the start of the 1992-93 season.
• Valpo rallied from double-figures down, the team's first such comeback since Dec. 20 at Western Michigan. This marked the first time the Beacons overcame a double-figure deficit for a conference win since Jan. 20, 2024 vs. UIC.
• After entering the season on a nine-game head-to-head losing streak, Valpo swept the season series from the Bears, marking the team's first and only sweep of the Missouri State during their time sharing MVC affiliation. Missouri State will join Conference USA next season. This was also the first time Valpo swept a conference home-and-home from Missouri State, including their years sharing AMCU affiliation in the 1980s.
• Wright has scored 17 points or more in six of his last seven and at least 20 points in five of those seven contests.
• De La Cruz Monegro scored 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting. He has scored 16 points or more in three of the last four.
• Schwieger posted 16 points and seven rebounds while blocking five shots, tying a career best set on Jan. 11 of this season at Missouri State. He became the first Valpo player with a 16-point, seven-rebound, five-block game since Derrik Smits on Nov. 24, 2018 at West Virginia.
• Schwieger, who went 5-of-9 from the field, scored 12 points or more for the 19^th straight game.
• Schwieger moved into 10^th in program history for career blocked shots on Wednesday, surpassing current member of the Valpo coaching staff Lubos Barton (1998-02, 74). Schwieger finished the day with 77 career blocks. He has 49 this season, two away from climbing into the program's single-season top 10.
• The Beacons prevailed despite facing a 44-26 (-18) disparity on the boards, as Valpo pulled down just three offensive rebounds to Missouri State's 29 defensive rebounds. This marked the team's lowest offensive rebound total since three on Jan. 21, 2023 at Illinois State.
• Valpo went 24-of-31 (77.4) percent at the free-throw line and shot 40.4 percent from the floor. Valpo scuffled from 3 at 4-of-19 (21.1 percent) but held Missouri State to 5-of-23 (21.7 percent) from beyond the arc.
• Valpo had lost 25 straight games when shooting below 22 percent from 3, dating back to a 58-55 win over Evansville in the first round of Arch Madness on March 5, 2020, a game where Valpo was 0-of-10 from 3.
• This marked the 18^th time this season that Valpo had 10 turnovers or fewer. Five marked the team's fewest since four on Nov. 27 vs. Northern Illinois.
• Valpo led for just 5:13, but thankfully that included when the final horn sounded.
• Valpo surpassed the 2022-23 season win total of 11 on Wednesday, making this the team's highest win total over the last three seasons. Valpo needs one more win to double its conference win total from last year and two more wins to double its overall win total from last season.

Postgame Press Conference 
Click here for postgame press conference.

Up Next
Valpo (12-16, 5-12 MVC) will travel to Carbondale to battle Southern Illinois on Saturday night at 6 p.m. The game will air on ESPN+.