One-on-One with Roger Powell Jr
(St. Louis, MO) – Valparaiso is having a solid second season under Roger Powell Jr. Valpo has won two straight games and three of its last four. Powell is building the foundation from the bottom up and the Beacons have doubled their Missouri Valley Conference win total from three to six. They’ve also nearly doubled their total of wins from seven to 13.
Wednesday they host Bradley as part of the Gray Media TV, Game of the Week. The teams tip it off at 8 pm Central.
Valpo lost nine straight games before winning three of the last four and are in eleventh place in the 12-team Missouri Valley. The Beacons (13-16, 6-12) took Bradley to double-overtime in their contest in Peoria, Illinois.
Powell is building the foundation from the ground up. His players will earn back-to-back ‘Freshman of the Year‘ awards. Sophomore forward Cooper Schwieger won the award last season, and rookie All Wright is the heavy favorite to claim the award this year. Wright has earned six, ‘Freshman of the Week‘ honors.
Schwieger (15.1 ppg) is eleventh and Wright (15.9) is ninth in scoring during Valley play and they are both spectacular from the free throw line. While Wright wasn’t much of a factor in the first meeting with Bradley, Schwieger scored 21 points. Powell’s young team has become legitimately competitive this season.
Powell on Building the Foundation
Senior guard Darius DeAveiro has been a solid cornerstone for the rebuilding of the Valpo squad and Wednesday night will be his final home game. The Canadian native has appeared in 115 Beacon contests.
Junior Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro is Valpo’s third, double-digit scorer (11.1) and freshman Justus McNair has shown flashes of stardom. Sophomore Kaspar Sepp is another regular contributor in building the foundation.
Bradley’s Brian Wardle talks about the Wednesday matchup.
The Beacons finish the season at Illinois Chicago and then head to Arch Madness for a game on March 6th.
Do Good
Editor: Cover photo of Cooper Schwieger, courtesy of valpoathletics.com
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Flooding, lightning strikes, etc. have cost @RacersHoops two home games. Had to play 'neutral site' tonight instead of at home and Wednesday's goes from home to away. Tough break for the Racers, and the whole area has been hit with difficulties. #FatherHarry
Murray State's scheduled home game Wednesday vs. Southern Illinois being moved to Banterra Center in Carbondale. #ValleyHoops
Gigantic game for @BradleyUMBB today in Des Moines. If they have a chance to catch @DrakeBulldogsMB, they have to win today. The Bulldogs can basically win the title today. @BustingBrackets breaks it all down. #FatherHarry https://bit.ly/3EGiVgi
Not rooting for any particular @ValleyHoops, but chaos is always fun. If things break certain ways, after today there could be a six-way tie for fifth place.
Fun to listen to @MLBLarry on the @SIU_Basketball/@BelmontMBB game tonight. Good job brother. #FatherHarry
