Valley Teams Playing Well
(St. Louis, MO) – MTE wins and near misses point to a positive season for the Missouri Valley Conference. Drake, Indiana State and Valparaiso were solid winners while Illinois State and Southern Illinois came oh, so close.
Valley teams are eleven and five in multi-team event action.
MTE Wins – DeVries Bounces Back
The Tucker DeVries shooting slump is over and Drake earned a twenty-point victory over Akron. Drake’s star forward struggled during the first two games of the Cayman Islands Challenge but erupted for 33 points, making twelve of 19 shots including five from long distance. The Valley’s reigning player of the year reached the thirty-point mark for the fourth time in his career and the second this season.
Drake (4-1) handled CollegeInsider.com’s second-ranked mid-major team, making Akron the second top-25 team in the mid-major rankings to lose to a Valley squad. Freshman Kevin Overton was named to the Challenge’s all-tournament team.
Robbie Avila’s career high 27 points led Indiana State to a 103-88 win over Rice. The 6’10 sophomore grabbed eight rebounds and handed out a career high eight assists as the Sycamores (3-1) topped the 90-point scoring level for the third time in four games.
Mason Miller and Ryan Conwell each added 15 points. The Sycamores face Pepperdine at 7:00 pm Wednesday.
Four Valparaiso Beacons were double-digit scorers as Valpo defeated Western Illinois 73-66. Ola Ajiboye contributed a career-high 21 points and a team high eight rebounds. Cooper Schwieger and Jahari Williamson scored 13 points and Darius DeAveiro tallied 11.
Valpo finishes the Joseph J. Biggs Invitational when the Beacons host Southern University Saturday.
MTE Near Misses
Southern Illinois’ undefeated season ended Tuesday night by falling to AP No. 22 James Madison. Despite Saluki guard Xavier Johnson’s career-high 38 points the Salukis lost 82-76. The Dukes (5-0) move on to the Cancun Challenge semifinals. SIU held a two-point lead with 4:34 left in the contest but couldn’t regain the lead after a two-minute scoring drought.
SIU faces New Mexico State an overtime loser on Tuesday night, Wednesday at 5:00 pm.
Illinois State rallied from a 15 point deficit to take a one-point lead with 2:26 left during its Gulf Coast Showcase second round game with High Point, but the Panthers regained the lead and defeated the Redbirds 74-72. Freshman Johnny Kinziger (14 points) reached double-digits for the third straight game.
Wednesday, the Redbirds face Wright State at 4:00 pm.
Season Defining MTE Wins Possible
Undefeated Bradley (4-0) plays for the SoCal Challenge championship tonight (9:30 pm) agains undefeated UTEP (5-0). A Bradley win would give the Valley its second MTE tournament championship.
Northern Iowa opens the Battle 4 Atlantis against nationally ranked North Carolina. The Panthers face the 14th ranked Tarheels at 11:00 am on ESPN.
A pair of 2-and-2 teams square off when Murray State faces Appalachian State in another 11:00 a.m. start. The Racers have dropped their last two games, by a total of seven points.
Do Good
Twitter Feed
The final pre-Christmas weekly all-stars of the @ValleyHoops & @OVCSports. With very rare exceptions, it's all about league play now for these leagues.
Now @DrakeBulldogsMB has moved into the top spot in @collegeinsider #midmajortop25 poll. @BradleyUMBB is 4th. @BelmontMBB is 17th.
.@SEMOMBB wins at home and is 2-0, tied with @MSUEaglesMBB atop the @OVCSports. Our prayers are with the @LRTrojans after the death of one of their managers Josh Claxton. Their game with EIU was postponed today.
Good officiating in the @SEMOMBB/@SIUEMBB in a little late game dust up.
