Forged by Fire

MBB: Valparaiso has shaken off a nine-game losing streak and a 20-0 run to be playing on Semifinal Saturday in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS - As the walls were closing in on the Valparaiso men’s basketball team during Northern Iowa’s 20-0 run on Friday night, Cooper Schwieger was remarkably calm.

The Beacons had seen the entirety of their 19-point lead evaporate against the Panthers and were now facing a deficit for the first time since the early stages of Friday’s Missouri Valley Conference quarterfinal.

Valparaiso’s sophomore star wasn’t going to be deterred by nearly nine minutes of bad basketball. After all, this is a team that endured a nine-game losing streak earlier this season and is now just 80 minutes away from the NCAA tournament.