Four hit double figures as Aces defeat Belmont, 93-88

Four University of Evansville men’s basketball players recorded double figures as the Purple Aces improved to 3-0 for the third season in a row with a 93-88 win over Belmont on Saturday afternoon at the Ford Center.

Leading the parade for UE (3-0) was D.J. Balentine.  The senior scored a season-high 27 points on a 12-of-21 day from the line.  He also recorded five assists against just one turnover.  Balentine has now scored 16 points or more in each of the last 11 games dating back to the contest at UNI last season.

Egidijus Mockevicius was just as impressive.  For the third time in three games, the native of Vilnius, Lithuania notched a double-double as he finished with 26 points and 14 rebounds.  He was 8-of-12 from the field and finished just one tally shy of his career mark.  Jaylon Brown recorded back-to-back double figure efforts for the first time in his career.  He followed up a 13-point night versus Marian with another 13-point day against the Bruins.  He hit five of his seven attempts.  Mislav Brzoja totaled 12 points as he knocked down 7 of his 9 free throw attempts.

Starting 3-0 in three-consecutive seasons is something that has not been done in over 60 years.  The last time came between the 1948-49 season and 1950-51 when Evansville had three 3-0 starts in a row.

“We were very sharp today for a lot of the game; that is something you absolutely have to do against Belmont,” head coach Marty Simmons said.  “This was by far the best game we have played to this point.  We had good execution, made the extra pass, set good screens and made hard cuts.”

For Belmont (2-2), it was Evan Bradds leading the way.  Bradds hit all 13 of his attempts against the Aces to finish with a game-high 28 points while tying Mockevicius’ tally of 14 boards.  Amanze Egekeze registered 19 points while Craig Bradshaw posted 13.

Evansville got out to a 6-2 lead in the opening minutes, hitting three of its first four shots.  Belmont came back to take their first lead at 10-8 on a Bradshaw jumper.  Trailing 14-12 seven minutes into the contest, Evansville made its first run of the day, scoring nine in a row to take its largest lead of the game at the midway mark of the period.

The Bruins chipped away at the gap before a Taylor Barnette triple got them within just one point inside of three minutes remaining in the period.  From there, the Aces buckled down once again, wrapping up the half on an 11-2 run to take a 45-35 lead into the break.  Harris Brown hit a triple to start it before Balentine connected from downtown at the buzzer in an exciting finish to the half.

“The best part about hitting that three was that everyone was waiting for me,” Balentine said.  “It definitely got us hyped.  Overall, we had a great game on offense, it was the first time this season that we really got our offense going.”

UE’s first possession of the half resulted in a Mockevicius layup that saw UE take its largest lead at 47-35.  As they had done all day, Belmont made their way right back into the game.  Another Barnette trey cut Evansville’s lead to 68-63 inside of the 8-minute mark.  In a game where the Aces were always able to respond, they did just that over the next minute, reeling off eight in a row to grab the largest advantage at 76-63.  Blake Simmons capped off the rally with his first shot of the day from outside.

Despite another double-digit deficit, Belmont was still able to stay close.  Evansville held an 84-75 with 2:45 remaining, but an Egekeze triple was followed by a Dylan Windler layup that got Belmont within four at 84-80.  On the ensuing possession, Brzoja hit a pair of free throws to push the lead back to six.  The Bruins got within five with 30 seconds left and looked to have an opportunity to get closer after a pair of missed UE free throws, but a huge offensive board from Mockevicius gave UE another chance and the senior was able to hit both to clinch the victory.

Both teams shot lights out, especially in the second half.  Belmont finished at 55.6% overall and 63.6% in the second half while the Aces checked in at 51.7% for the game and 66.7% in the final 20 minutes.  Belmont finished with a 50-34 advantage in points in the paint, but the difference came for Evansville as they hit 25 free throws as opposed to 9 by the Bruins.

Blake Simmons had another strong day as he recorded 7 points and a team-best seven assists.  Adam Wing hit just one shot, but helped the team in many other ways, posting 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals.

Evansville will take to the road for its next three games at the Wooden Legacy in Anaheim, Calif.  The Aces will open up against Providence on Thursday evening in a 6 p.m. CT game that will be televised on ESPNU.  In the second game, Evansville will face either Arizona or Santa Clara.