Missouri Valley Basketball: Valpo, Belmont and Southern Illinois get MTE wins

Three MTE bounce back wins were welcome news to Missouri Valley Conference basketball fans. After two straight days of multi-team event defeats Valley teams scored a trifecta on Wednesday. 

MVC teams lost six straight MTE games prior to Wednesday’s action. 

Southern Illinois, Valparaiso and Belmont were victorious, running the league’s MTE record to 12 and nine. 

Valparaiso won its second straight game in the DePaul Classic MTE. After defeating Eastern Illinois earlier in the week, the Beacons knocked off Northern Illinois on Wednesday. Five Valpo players reached double figures during an 87-82 win over the Huskies. 

The Beacons (4-2) made 35 free throws on 44 attempts on the way to their third straight win overall. Reigning Freshman of the Year, Cooper Schwieger and NAIA transfer Tyler Schmidt led the way with 17 points each. Schwieger's points all came after intermission. Freshman All Wright (13), Devon Ellis (12) and Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro (12) helped the offensive output. Nine different Beacons reached the score sheet. 

Valparaiso won just seven games last season and finish the DePaul Classic with a game with the host Blue Demons on Friday. Valpo's 87 points is its highest mark against a Division opponent in three years.

After dropping their first two games in the Gulf Coast Classic, Southern Illinois rebounded with an 81-54 victory over Florida Tech. SIU (3-5) dominated the glass (39-26) and excelled at sharing the basketball, recording twenty assists. 

Sophomore guard Kennard Davis (15 points) led five double-digit Saluki scorers. Davion Sykes finished one rebound shy of a double-double with ten points and nine rebounds. Davis has scored at least nine points in every Saluki game. SIU is 1-5 against Division 1 competition. 

Belmont made it a Valley three-game sweep with a convincing 89-66 win over Tulane. The Bruins led by ten at the half and pulled away in the second stanza, cruising to the 23-point win. 

Five Bruins reached double figures in scoring as transfer Tyler Lundblade used his first start of the season to lead Belmont with a 17-point performance. The TCU transfer made five of his ten long distance shots, sparking the Bruins to a 42 percent accuracy mark from long distance, hitting 18 triples. 

Belmont (5-2) recorded a season-high 24 assists in the consolation game of the Cancun Challenge. The Bruins will play Gardner-Webb on Friday to conclude that multi-team event. 

Thursday, Northern Iowa (3-2) opens play in the NIT Season Tip-Off with a 7:00 pm game with North Texas (5-1). The two-day event concludes on Friday and the Panthers will play either St. Bonaventure or Utah State on Friday night.