Aces drop 74-69 contest to Beacons
 VALPARAISO, Ind. – Hitting four of his six 3-point tries, freshman Blake Sisley scored a career-high 18 points for the University of Evansville men’s basketball team in a 74-69 setback at Valparaiso on Monday.
Sisley knocked down six of his nine attempts from the field. Blaise Beauchamp reached double figures for the fourth time in five games, finishing with 14 for the Purple Aces (6-21, 2-14 MVC). Noah Frederking added 13 points while Shamar Givance finished with 12. Preston Phillips paced UE with seven rebounds while Givance was credited with a career-high 10 assists. The performance marked the first collegiate double-double for Givance. Kevion Taylor led Valparaiso (13-15, 6-10 MVC) with 23 points while Ben Krikke added 16.
After the Beacons opened the game with the first four points, UE recorded five in a row to jump in front. Noah Frederking drained a triple before Blaise Beauchamp made a drive to the basket. Evansville retook a 7-6 edge on a Shamar Givance jumper at the 17:08 mark.
Just past the midway point of the half, things remained close with Valpo up 20-18. That is when they turned it on, scoring 11 in a row to take their largest lead of the period. The Beacons drained four shots in a row with a turnaround jumper by Eron Gordon capping off the run to give VU a 31-18 lead with 4:44 showing on the clock.
Triples by Blake Sisley and Blaise Beauchamp helped the Aces complete the half on a 12-5 run to trail by just six points at the half. Evansville did a great job of spreading the ball around with all seven players who saw time in the first half finding their way into the scorebook.
Out of the half, the Aces reeled off the first 16 points to take a 46-36 lead with just over 14 minutes left. Sisley connected on a pair of triples to open the period before Frederking was true from outside to put UE in front – 39-36. Frederking followed up the triple with a steal and he found Givance cutting to the basket, where he was fouled and connected on both free throws. Following a Beauchamp trey, it was Sisley capping off the stretch with a pair of free throws.
UE hit four of their six field goal tries in the run while Valpo missed their opening five shots while turning it over twice. Valpo stormed right back, recording nine in a row to cut the UE lead to one before retaking a 50-49 advantage halfway through the period. As the minutes wound down, Sisley’s fourth triple of the night put Evansville back on top at 56-55, but the Beacons countered with eight in a row to go up 63-56 with under four minutes remaining.
Four in a row from the Aces made it a 1-possession game before a triple by Beauchamp made it a 70-69 game inside of 10 seconds remaining. Valpo hit a pair of free throws on the other end, giving UE one more chance with a 3-pointer coming up short in the final seconds to seal the win for Valpo. The Beacons shot an even 50% on the night with UE finishing at 43.5%.
UE remains on the road to face Loyola in a 7 p.m. game on Wednesday in Chicago.
