A lightning-fast start, a thunderous dunk and weathering a late storm led the Valparaiso University men's basketball team to a 71-67 victory over UIC on Saturday afternoon at Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago.
 
The Beacons cooled off the Flames – who had won 11 of their previous 13 games since a loss at the ARC in early January – and remained one of the Missouri Valley Conference's hottest teams themselves, improving to 8-3 in their last 11 games and 5-1 in their last six. Head coach Roger Powell Jr.'s team continued to soar to new heights, clinching the program's highest conference win total since joining the MVC prior to the 2017-18 campaign.
 
How It Happened

• The Beacons raced out to an early 13-4 lead, prompting a UIC timeout less than five minutes into the game. Valpo nailed three early 3s with Rakim Chaney (Rockford, Ill. / Rockford Auburn) making two and assisting on the other.
• The Beacons stretched the advantage to 13 when Justus McNair (Joliet, Ill. / Joliet West) had baskets on consecutive possessions, but UIC came back to hit its first two 3s of the game sandwiched around a stop, cutting the deficit to seven at 21-14 as Valpo called timeout with 10:07 on the first-half clock.
• Both teams experienced a scoring drought of over two minutes, but the Beacons continued to get stops and led 23-14 at the under-8 media timeout of the first half.
• The Flames started to force a few turnovers, and that spurred a 6-0 run that sliced Valpo's 12-point lead in half, making it 28-22 with 2:54 to go until the break.
• UIC finished the first half by outscoring Valpo 13-3 over the final 5:30 as the Beacons went 1-of-7 shooting and turned it over four times over the final six minutes of the half. However, the hot start to the game was enough to have the guests in front through 20 minutes, as Valpo carried a 31-29 edge into the locker room.
• The Beacons had a three-minute scoring drought early in the second half, as the Flames outscored them 7-3 to capture their first lead of the game at 36-34 with 15:49 to play.
• Valpo regained the lead after forcing a turnover and getting a runout dunk by Isaiah Barnes (Chicago, Ill. / Simeon Career Academy [Tulsa/Michigan]), then UIC's Crawford created a midrange jumper to beat the shot clock and put the Flames back in front. Sader Servilus (Montreal, Quebec, Canada / Fort Erie International Academy) raced to the rim, finishing despite being fouled to seesaw Valpo ahead 45-43 thanks to the traditional 3-point play.
• With 9:13 left in the second half, Barnes threw down an electric dunk despite being fouled – a strong candidate for a SportsCenter Top 10 play. The 3-point play built the Valpo lead to six. The dunk energized not only the Beacon bench, but also the Valpo fans who traveled well to UIC and made an impact on the homecourt advantage.
• A moment later, the Chicago native struck again, as Barnes swished a monster 3 with 8:22 to go to build the lead to seven at 54-47.
• Servilus knocked down a trey with 6:30 on the clock that made it a nine-point Valpo lead, then an offensive rebound by Servilus led to a 3 by McNair with 5:28 remaining, lifting the lead to 11 at 64-53.
• Valpo owned a 10-point cushion at 65-55 with three minutes to play, but a quick 8-0 run by the Flames made it a 65-63 game with 32 seconds to go. A full-court press helped UIC shrink the lead.
• Chaney sank two huge free throws with 30 seconds left to get the lead back to four, but UIC's Elijah Crawford made a driving layup to cut it to two. Crawford played a big role in UIC's late surge.
• Crawford had a 3-point try that would have tied the game with 17 seconds left, but he misfired and Chaney collected the rebound. Chaney made one free throw but missed the second, then Crawford hit two free throws with eight seconds left to make it a two-point game again at 69-67. Chaney knocked down two more clutch free throws to stretch the lead to four, and then UIC was fouled with a second left but missed both free throws, and the final horn sounded, with Valpo fans experiencing both euphoria and relief.

Inside the Game

• The Beacons are on a three-game winning streak, their first since November victories over Nicholls, Bryant and Cleveland State. This marks Valpo's first three-game winning streak in league play since winning the first three games of January 2025 – at Missouri State, vs. UNI and vs. Indiana State.
• Valpo has clinched its highest conference win total since joining the Missouri Valley Conference in 2017-18 outright, becoming the first Valpo team to win 10 Valley games in a season.
• Valpo swept the regular-season series from UIC for the first time since the Flames joined the MVC in 2022-2023.
• Valpo picked up its fifth win in a six-game span and improved to 8-3 in its last 11 games.
• The Beacons garnered the team's fourth road victory of the season, the team's most since 2021-2022 and tied for its most since 2019-2020.
• Valpo achieved the team's 16^th win of the season, surpassing last year's overall win total and making this Valpo's highest overall win total since 2019-2020 (19).  
• The Brown & Gold clinched a winning regular season and clinched an overall record (including MVC tournament) of .500 or better.
• Servilus scored a team-high 13 points, leading five Beacons in double figures. He became the seventh different Valpo player to lead the team in scoring in a game this season, joining Dease, Pettigrew, Chaney, Whitaker, McNair and Barnes.
• Servilus was 4-for-4 from the floor and drained his only 3-point attempt on his way to over doubling his previous career high of six points that came on Dec. 29 at UNI. He had a plus-minus of +10 in Saturday's win.
• Senior Brody Whitaker (Greencastle, Ind. / Greencastle [University of Indianapolis]) did not score and only attempted one shot, but he owned a team-best +13 in the win over the Flames and is often the team leader in plus-minus.
• Pettigrew stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals. This marked his fifth straight double-figure scoring output and his ninth straight game with at least five rebounds.
• The six boards elevated Pettigrew's season total to 190. His first carom on Sunday helped him break the program's freshman rebounding record of Raitis Grafs that had stood for over a quarter of a century since the 1999-2000 campaign.
• Chaney led the team with seven rebounds while also pouring in 12 points. His seven board marked his most in league play and his most since eight on Nov. 16 vs. Bryant.
• McNair scored 11 points off the bench, his fifth double-figure output in his last eight games.
• Junior Shon Tupuola (Brownsburg, Ind. / Brownsburg [Saint Mary-of-the-Woods]) was the fifth Beacon in double figures with 10 points, his second consecutive contest with 10 or more. Valpo had five in double figures for the first time since Jan. 31 at Indiana State.
• Barnes' eight points marked his most since Jan. 21 vs. Southern Illinois and tied for his most in league play this season.  
• Valpo continued to have an affinity for playing – and often winning – close games. Nine of Valpo's last 10 games have been decided by single figures. In league play, 16 of the team's 18 games have been decided by 10 points or fewer.
• Valpo's 3-point defense was stellar, holding UIC to just 4-of-17 (23.5 percent) from long range.
• The Beacons were 19-of-25 at the foul line (76 percent), their best day at the stripe in the last five games.
• Valpo won the turnover battle 12-9, keeping turnovers to single figures for a fourth straight game.
• Valpo had 17 assists, the team's most against a Division-I opponent this season and the squad's third straight game with 15 or more.
• Valpo held a 35-34 rebounding edge including a 13-12 advantage on the offensive glass.
• UIC's Crawford finished with 22 points but was just 1-of-6 from 3.
• Valpo led by as many as 13 and was in front for 34 minutes, 38 seconds while trailing for just 4 minutes, 35 seconds.

Thoughts From Head Coach Roger Powell Jr.
"We're going to keep making history. We've got toughness in our locker room, and we've got connectivity. This is a brand-new team, and we've figured it out. Our players have given us their hearts, and our staff has given our hearts to them. That's what you're seeing. They're playing for each other, they're playing for us, and it's beautiful."
 
"Strength in numbers is a beautiful thing, and we're doing it. We have confidence in a bunch of guys with this team. How about Barnes? That was probably the best dunk I've ever seen in a college basketball game. He made a big 3. Getting him going at the right time is a positive thing."
 
"Sader is tough and he has a big heart. He's selfless."
 
"I have a strong love for my players. I encourage them, love them, hug on them, and when they see that that is genuine, then they will run through a wall for you."
 
Up Next
Valpo (16-13, 10-8 MVC) will host Drake on Senior Night on Wednesday with a 7 p.m. tip at the ARC. Tickets are available at tickets.valpoathletics.com.