Bench Lifts Salukis to Victory over Valpo, First Valley Win

Thursday, January 1

Carbondale, IL

2 PM

Southern Illinois University

7-8,1-3MVC

Valparaiso

6-8,0-3MVC

Team	1	2	F
Valparaiso	25	45	70
Southern Ill.	36	39	75

Isaiah Stafford

Photo by: Abby Harris

01/01/2026 | 8:11:00 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Jordan Kruse, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The bench scored 30 points in Southern Illinois Men's Basketball's 75-70 victory over Valparaiso on Thursday in Carbondale.

All 10 Salukis who played were on the floor for more than 10 minutes, and no Saluki played more than 30. This has not been a common occurrence over the course of Head Coach Scott Nagy's career, who commented on Davion Sykes' return to the bench after starting the previous three games. Sykes, Jalen Haynes and Isaiah Stafford all scored seven points off the bench.

"I generally haven't done that, I've always been about seven guys," he said. "With this team we've seen time and time again, it's another reason why we wanted to put Davion back on the bench, because he was playing so well coming off the bench, we made that switch this game, and here he is, he gave us such a lift when he came in the game."

Both teams struggled to score in the first half, with the score being just 22-21 at the under-four media timeout. Southern's reserves would score the team's final 13 points in the half, capped off by alley-oop dunks from Stafford and Sykes. Southern's defense was on point, holding the Beacons to just 18.8% shooting from the field, and just 1-for-9 (11.1%) from the three-point line.

A technical foul on SIU gave Valpo a chance to shoot free throws to begin the second half, slightly halting momentum and giving the Beacons a chance to begin the second half down 10 instead of 11 at 36-26.

Southern would stretch its lead as big as 13 with just over nine minutes to go, but the Beacons would not go away, slowly chipping away and bringing the deficit all the way down to three with 90 seconds left.

The Salukis needed a big bucket, and Damien Mayo Jr. would deliver with his only three points of the day to give Southern a six-point lead with one minute to play. Valpo never got back within one possession, and the Salukis would hang on to win 75-70.

Nagy was happy to secure the win, but pointed out his team's inability to knock down free throws, despite having many opportunities, as they shot under 50% from the line in the second half.

"We have to shoot free throws better, this is nuts," Nagy exclaimed. "13 more free throws than them, and we barely won the game, we made one more free throw than them."

Prince Aligbe and Quel'Ron House led a balanced scoring attack with 12 points each. Rolyns Aligbe grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds.

Southern tallies its first Missouri Valley Conference win, improving to 1-3 in league play and 7-8 overall.

UP NEXT
The Salukis will hit the road once again, heading to Belmont on Sunday at 4 p.m.

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