Beauchamp and Sisley post career efforts for Aces

Aces drop double overtime contest against Sycamores

 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Career efforts by Blaise Beauchamp and Blake Sisley highlighted a wild game at the Ford Center on Thursday, which saw Indiana State finish with an 80-77 double overtime win against the University of Evansville men’s basketball team.

Beauchamp erupted for 29 points in a game that saw him drill six triple for the Purple Aces (6-17, 2-10 MVC).  Sisley finished with a career-best 17 points in an efficient 6-for-8 shooting performance.  He added five rebounds.  Shamar Givance finished the night with 18 points while Evan Kuhlman set a career mark with 7 assists.  Cooper Neese paced the Sycamores (10-14, 3-9 MVC) with 35 points.  He converted 12 of his 24 field goal tries.

“We had some good production from a lot of our guys.  Our younger guys got some valuable experience and really raised their level of play,” Aces head coach Todd Lickliter said.  “The ball really moved around a lot better in the second half and was similar to how we played up at their place.  Indiana State made a few runs on us and we found ways to get stops and come back.  We’re right there; we just needed one more stop or one more basket.”

Over the first 20 minutes, it was runs by both teams that highlighted the action.  After Evansville posted the opening three points on free throws by Shamar Givance, Indiana State scored nine in a row to take their first edge of the night.  UE started the game just 1-of-11 from the field, but got on track after ISU extended the lead to 15-6.

Givance got things rolling with a layup before Blake Sisley connected from downtown to cut the deficit to four.  Evan Kuhlman continued the run with a free throw before Givance found Sisley open for the second long ball of the night to tie the score at 15-15 just past the halfway point.  Following a Sycamore turnover, Sisley converted his third field goal of the night to put UE back on top at 17-15.

Making his second start in a row, Blaise Beauchamp found the scoresheet with back-to-back triples to push the lead to 23-16.  The first was a shot that he launched right at the end of the shot clock.  Beauchamp made it eight points in a row with a layup at the 5:15 mark to make it a 25-18 game.

Indiana State responded by scoring the final eight points of the period to jump back in front at 26-25 entering halftime.  Evansville missed its final six attempts of the half as the Sycamores made their comeback.

ISU’s run continued in the early moments of the second half as they extended the lead back to seven points at 37-30 with the game entering the final 14 minutes of regulation.  Just as they did in the opening stanza, the Aces responded with a 12-4 stretch to go back on top.  Five in a row by Sisley cut the deficit to a pair before Beauchamp hit a triple with 10:42 remaining to give Evansville its first lead of the second half.

Beauchamp’s career night continued when a pair of free throws at the 5:02 mark solidified a 54-50 advantage.  With UE holding onto a 56-53 lead a minute later, the Sycamores rallied, scoring the next five to go up 58-56 with under two minutes on the clock.  After a Givance free throw, Beauchamp drained a triple with 56 ticks showing to put UE back in front at 60-58, but a pair of ISU free throws knotted the score.  A blocked shot with 30 seconds left gave the Sycamores the final shot and a 3-point try by Cooper Neese hit every part of the rim before bouncing out, forcing overtime.

Right out of the gate, ISU posted five points to take the early OT advantage.  ISU remained on top by four with 2:17 showing before rallied once again.  Preston Phillips dunked it with 26 seconds left to tie it up and a Sycamore miss forced a second extra period knotted at 69-69.  Just as they did in the first OT, ISU reeled off five in a row to go in front.  It took just over four minutes, but the Aces clawed their way back to tie it at 74-74 with 58 seconds left on a Sisley free throw.  The teams swapped layups to make it a 76-76 contest before a pair of ISU free throws with 10 second left gave them the lead for good before finishing with the 80-77 win.

Evansville’s busy stretch comes to a close on Saturday with a 7 p.m. game at Southern Illinois.