Aces battle to the end at Wichita State

UE falls just short by a final of 67-64

 

WICHITA, Kan. – Junior Jaylon Brown put forth one of the best efforts of his career, scoring 18 points, but a pair of late triples saw Wichita State hang on for a 67-64 victory over the University of Evansville men’s basketball team on Wednesday evening.

“When we made that run in the second half, it is as competitive as we have been since the end of the break,” head coach Marty Simmons said.  “This is a confidence booster for us, it’s a great environment to play in.  We can take away a bunch of positives from this game going forward.”

Brown led the way for the Purple Aces (13-3, 2-1 MVC) with 18 points on a 7/12 shooting night.  D.J. Balentine finished the night with 14 while Adam Wing had 12 points.  Egidijus Mockevicius led everyone with 16 rebounds.  The Shockers (9-5, 3-0 MVC) were led by Anton Grady, who had 15 points and seven rebounds.

Evansville had a solid shooting night, finishing at 48%, but the Shockers difference came in bench points as they notched 28.

“We played really hard and showed that we can play against anyone,” Mislav Brzoja said.  “I am proud of our guys for the way that we competed as a team.”

A defensive battle in the first half led to a 32-27 score at the break.  The Shockers scored the first four points of the night on their way to a 6-2 lead.  Adam Wing shot the Aces right back in it with a triple just over four minutes in and a Balentine jumper gave UE its first lead at 7-6 on the next possession.

Wichita rallied back as a 9-0 run gave them their largest lead to that point – 17-9 – nine minutes in.  Evansville clawed its way back as a pair of Jaylon Brown buckets and a Mislav Brzoja 3-pointer got the Aces back within one at 22-21 inside of the 8-minute mark.  WSU utilized an and-one by Markis McDuffie to take a 32-24 lead before another Brzoja triple made it a 32-27 game at the half.

Adam Wing’s second trey of the night marked the first points of the second half and got UE within a pair at 32-30, but Wichita came back as a Conner Frankamp triple seven minutes into the period gave them their largest lead of the day at 44-35.  Still down by nine at 50-41, the Aces made a 7-0 run over the course of just a minute.  Brzoja registered the first five points of the run before Jaylon Brown capped it off with a jumper to make it a 50-48 score inside of seven minutes remaining.

A 4-0 run put the Shockers back up at 54-48, but an old-fashioned 3-point play by Egidijus Mockevicius got UE within a possession at 54-51.  Back-to-back buckets by Brown inside the 4-minute mark tied the score up at 57-57, but a triple from Evan Wessel put the Shockers back on top at 60-57.  Another triple in the final minutes by the Shockers put the finishing touches on the win.

Saturday will mark the first in a stretch of three home contests in four dates as the Purple Aces welcome Bradley to the Ford Center.  The game is set for 3 p.m.