Aces drop fourth in a row on Saturday
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – For the second game in a row, Ryan Taylor and Jaylon Brown scored 19 points apiece, but a late push by Southern Illinois saw them earn a 73-61 win over the University of Evansville men’s basketball team on Saturday afternoon at the Ford Center.
The duo for UE (10-9, 1-5 MVC) hit 12 out of 19 attempts on the day and were 12 out of 13 from the free trow line. Behind them, Dru Smith and David Howard finished with six points apiece.
Three Saluki (11-8, 4-2 MVC) players finished in double figures, led by a 20-point game from Mike Rodriguez. He drained a game-high nine free throws. Sean Lloyd finished with 14 while Thik Bowl tallied 12.
Saturday’s game saw the program honor legendary head coach Jim Crews. He was recognized with a proclamation before the game while former players in attendance joined him on the floor at halftime.-
“Give Southern Illinois credit, they got off to a good start and kept it going,†UE head coach Marty Simmons said. “Defensively, for a large portion of the game, I thought we did pretty well, but when you have breakdowns it is tough to recover.â€
Evansville led for the majority of the first half, going by as many as nine points, but a late push saw Southern Illinois head to the locker room with a 33-31 lead. Ryan Taylor led everyone with 12 points in the opening half, going a perfect 5-of-5 from the field.
The Aces opened the game on a 6-2 stretch with David Howard scoring four of those tallies. After SIU tied it up at 6-6, UE went back on top as an 11-2 run gave them a 17-8 lead at the midway point of the half. Evansville continued to lead at 23-15 with just over five minutes on the clock before a 13-0 run pushed the Salukis in front for the first time. A triple by Austin Weiher made the difference as they took a 24-23 lead. Six lead changes ensued before the Salukis wrestled away a 33-31 lead going into the half.
Southern Illinois added to its lead in the opening moment of the final period. An 8-3 stretch, paced by an Armon Fletcher triple, saw them take a 7-point advantage (41-34) just over two minutes in. Evansville responded in a big way. Down 43-36, a Jaylon Brown triple with under 13 minutes remaining capped off a 7-0 run as UE tied it up.
A Thik Bowl slam ended the stretch to put SIU back on top, but Dru Smith continued his nice work since returning from injury. His triple gave Evansville a 47-45 lead and on the ensuing SIU possession, Smith drew a charge to put the ball back in the Aces hands.
Just as fast as the Aces rallied, the Salukis did the same.  Mike Rodriguez knocked down a triple to finish off an 8-0 run that gave them a 53-47 edge with under 8 minutes left in the game. Duane Gibson ended the stretch with his bucket, but the Salukis kept the pressure on. The third trey of the game for Rodriguez gave SIU the first double digit lead either team would enjoy on the day at 61-51. They added to the lead from there, going up by as many as 15 before a late UE triple made it a 73-61 final.
SIU finished with a 37-36 rebounding edge and also outshot the Aces by a 42.6%-40.0% margin.
UE has just three days to prepare for their next contest as Wichita State comes to the Ford Center for a game on Tuesday evening. Tip is slated for 8 p.m.
