The 19th double-double of the season for Egidijus Mockevicius helped the University of Evansville men’s basketball team to an 83-68 victory over Eastern Illinois on Monday at Lantz Arena in the second round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.

Mockevicius posted 21 points and 16 rebounds for UE (21-12) while hitting 7 of his 12 attempts. D.J. Balentine led the Purple Aces with 22 points while Duane Gibson and Jaylon Brown recorded 10 apiece.

As a team, the Aces shot 53.5% on the day while holding Eastern Illinois (18-15) to 40.3%.

Adam Wing had a strong start for UE, posting the first four points for the Aces. After he scored on the opening possession, Dylan Chatman knocked down the first trey of the day to give EIU the lead before Wing put it back in UE’s hands.

With the score tied at 6-6, the Aces made their first big run of the game. They went on a 15-5 run to take a 21-11 lead. Mockevicius posted five points in a row before Jaylon Brown made his presence known with four straight of his own. Blake Simmons capped off the run with a triple to give the Aces a double-figure advantage.

Eastern Illinois got within four at 21-17, but a triple at the halftime buzzer by D.J. Balentine sent the Aces to the locker room with a 37-17 advantage. Balentine led UE with 11 halftime tallies while Mockevicius had 9 points and 8 rebounds at the break.

Out of the half, a 17-2 run saw the Aces take a 54-29 lead. Mockevicius had 6 rebounds and 4 points in the run as the Aces took the advantage with 16 minutes remaining. A Josh Piper three ended the rally as the Panthers started to regain some life as they got within 15. An 18-8 stretch saw them cut the gap, but the Aces retook control. They would go on to push the lead back to 24 points before hanging on for the 83-68 win in the end.

Leading EIU was Dylan Chatman, who posted 18 points. Chris Olivier registered 16 while Trae Anderson finished the evening with 10.

From Bob Pistrash, University of Evansville Sports Information Director

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