A team-high 17 points by sophomore Justus McNair (Joliet, Ill. / Joliet West) was not enough for the Valparaiso University men's basketball team on Tuesday night, as host Bradley made a seven-point halftime lead hold up in a 72-65 victory at Carver Arena in Peoria. Owen Dease (Evansville, Ind. / Evansville Reitz [Texas A&M Corpus Christi]) contributed 16 points for the Beacons in the 2025 Missouri Valley Conference semifinal rematch.
 
How It Happened

• Valpo scored the game's first three points, but Bradley jumped ahead with an 8-0 run. The lead was 8-5 with 15 minutes left in the first half.
• With Valpo down 12-9, Tucker Tornatta (Evansville, Ind. / Reitz Memorial [University of Indianapolis]) scrambled for a rebound off his own miss, then assisted McNair, who swished a game-tying 3. Bradley came back with a go-ahead bucket and led 14-12 at the under-12 media timeout of the first half.
• Valpo battled ahead, making four out of five shots including a key 3-point play by McNair, and then a go-ahead triple by Rakim Chaney (Rockford, Ill. / Rockford Auburn [212 Sports Academy]). Fresh off the bench, Mark Brown Jr. (South Phoenix, Ariz. / Bella Vista Prep [Snow College]) got in on the 3-point act by draining one that made it 23-21 Valpo.
• The game went back and forth, with Dease drilling a go-ahead jumper to put Valpo up 27-26 and later McNair laid one in to make it 29-28 Beacons.
• Bradley sunk eight of its last nine shots of the first half and went into the break ahead 40-33. The Braves shot at a blistering 57.7 percent clip over the first 20 minutes, while Valpo was not too shabby at 51.9 percent but committed nine turnovers. The Beacons did own an 8-0 edge in second-chance points and had a 12-point opening half from McNair.
• Bradley got the better of the play early in the second half, opening up the team's first double-figure lead of the game at 47-37 with 14:03 on the clock.
• McNair continued to help Valpo stay in the game when he nailed a 3 with 13:43 left in regulation to cut the lead to seven. Bradley had it back up to nine at 51-42 at the under-12 media timeout.
• Valpo fought to within single figures a few times during the second half, including a Chaney trey that made it 61-53 with under four minutes on the clock.
• Dease hit two 3s in succession to give Valpo hope, making it 71-65 with 39 seconds remaining, but the Flames made one of two free throws and then a missed 3 by the Beacons with 24 seconds left sealed their fate.

Inside the Game

• McNair scored a team-high 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting, his second 17-point game in his last four contests and tied for his high watermark in league play. He has scored at least eight points in five straight games.
• Dease got to 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while also grabbing five boards. He has scored 15 points or more in five of his last six games.
• Chaney scored in double figures for the third straight game, finishing with 11 points and five rebounds.
• Valpo's 12 turnovers were the team's most in the last six games, and the Beacons were just 4-of-10 at the free-throw line for a season-low 40 percent.
• Bradley owned a 33-32 rebounding edge, but Valpo held a 10-8 advantage on the offensive glass and outscored the Braves 15-5 on second chances.
• Valpo played Bradley even in the second half (32-32) but a seven-point halftime lead for the hosts held up. Valpo trailed by 14 with 7:44 to play and cut that lead in half down the final stretch. The game was back-and-forth in the first half, featuring four ties and 13 lead changes.

Up Next
Valpo (11-12, 5-7 MVC) will host Evansville on Friday at 7 p.m. on Video Game Night at the ARC. Tickets are available at tickets.valpoathletics.com.