Purple Aces Set Ford Center Shooting Record

From Bob Pristash, Sports Information Director for the University of Evansville

Finishing the night shooting a Ford Center record 66.7%, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team improved to 5-1 on the season with an 86-78 victory over Wright State at the Ford Center on Tuesday evening.

Evansville (5-1) hit 34 out of 51 shots on the night, including an 18-of-24 (75%) effort in the second half. D.J. Balentine scored a season-high 28 points on 9-13 shooting. He was a perfect 3-3 from outside while notching seven free throws. Fellow junior Egidijus Mockevicius set his career mark with 20 points. Mockevicius knocked down 8 out of 9 attempts and hauled in 11 boards for his 11th double-double in the last 16 games.

“For the most part, we did a better job of taking care of the basketball and had a better overall execution offensively,” UE head coach Marty Simmons said. “I think we had good balance. After they switched to the half-court trap (in the last 10 minutes), our guys were able to regroup and make the plays in the end.”

Mislav Brzoja had a stellar all-around effort, scoring nine points to go along with 5 rebounds and a career-high 7 assists. Fresh off of his career performance in Florida last week, Jaylon Brown followed up with 7 points on 3-for-5 shooting.

“Overall, it was a good win,” Balentine said. “Coach Elgas showed me a lot of stats on last season and it put me in a good mindset. We let the game come to us tonight. Coach Simmons always says if we run our offense the right way, it is very hard to guard. We showed that tonight.”

Wright State (4-4) found its offense clicking as well. The Raiders finished at 50.9% for the night while draining 11 3-pointers. Joe Thomasson hit six out of seven attempts to lead the squad with 20 points. Steven Davis and Grant Benzinger chipped in 18 apiece.

Both teams shot lights out in the first half as the Purple Aces went to the break, up 39-36. Evansville hit five of its first seven shots while WSU was 5-for-8 leading to a 13-13 score six minutes into the game. Balentine had the hot hand for UE, scoring ten of the Aces' first 20 points. His triple just over seven minutes in put the Aces up 20-15.

Evansville's lead reached eight at the 9-minute mark as a Mockevicius dunk put the advantage at 27-19. Wright State quickly made their way back, utilizing a 12-2 run to tie the game at 29-29 inside of six minutes remaining. Benzinger capped off the run with back-to-back treys. The Aces retook the lead with a 6-0 run of their own as Jaylon Moore dunked a pass from Duane Gibson.

The Raiders got within one after Steven Davis knocked down the sixth triple of the half, but a pair of Moore free throws with 19 ticks left in the half sent UE to the locker room up 39-36.

Wright State kept the pressure on out of halftime, going on a 15-9 run to take their largest lead of the night at three (51-48). Benzinger, who hit five triples on the night, hit another one five minutes into the half to put the lead back in WSU's hands.

That is where the tide turned. Over the next 7:04, UE went on an 18-0 run to open up a 66-51 lead. The Aces hit 7 out of 9 shots while holding the Raiders to ten-consecutive misses along with a pair of turnovers. Despite the deficit, Wright State refused to give up, rallying to get within four with 1:26 remaining.

Benzinger hit another triple to cut the deficit. On the ensuing possession, Balentine was able to draw a foul late in the shot clock and knock down both free throws. WSU got within four once again, but Balentine posted the final four tallies of the game to make it the final 86-78.

On Saturday, the Aces are back at the Ford Center to take on IUPUI. Game time is set for 7:05 p.m. Tickets are available by calling 812-488-ACES.