Brodie bullies Beacons

MBB: Sixth-year senior has 19 points and 18 rebounds to lead Drake over Valparaiso

The majority of the Valparaiso men’s basketball banners hanging from the rafters in the Athletics-Recreation Center all have one thing in common.

A dominant big man helped raise those banners.

Whether it was Tony Vilcinskas or Zoran Viskovic in the 1990s, Raitis Grafs in the 2000s or Vashil Fernandez in the 2010s, the bulk of Valparaiso’s success over the last three decades has been when it had a bully in the middle.

The same could be said for Drake’s recent success in the Missouri Valley Conference as 6-foot-10, 275-pound Darnell Brodie gives the Bulldogs a menacing force that no other team in the conference has.

Brodie’s skills were on display on Wednesday night as the sixth-year senior had 19 points and 18 rebounds to help lead the Bulldogs to an 81-70 win over the visiting Beacons at the Knapp Center in Des Moines.