Aces drop 69-61 game on Saturday
 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Kenny Strawbridge Jr. and Marvin Coleman II recorded 16 points apiece to lead the University of Evansville men’s basketball team in Saturday’s 69-61 loss to Illinois State at the Ford Center.
Strawbridge hit five shots and led the way with three steals. Coleman also had five field goal makes in the contest while hauling in four rebounds. Antoine Smith Jr. totaled nine points while Gage Bobe checked in with eight. Preston Phillips had a team-best seven rebounds.
“Today was a hard-fought game. It was a game that we gave ourselves the opportunity to win,†Purple Aces head coach David Ragland said. “Forcing 19 turnovers is great but not capitalizing on them is not. Making 29 trips to the free throw line is great but missing 11 is not. Credit goes to Illinois State for doing what they needed to win.â€
Kenny Strawbridge Jr. opened the scoring with Evansville taking a 3-0 lead. Over the first four minutes, Illinois State missed its first three field goal tries while turning it over four times. Once the Redbirds got on track, they reeled off seven in a row to take their first lead at 7-3. ISU continued to hold the lead until Strawbridge scored his second basket of the game to tie it at 12-12 just past the midway point of the half. Down 12-7, Chris Moncrief got the rally started with a 3-point play.
Connecting on four of their next five attempts, the Redbirds scored 10 in a row and pushed their lead into double figures for the first time at 22-12. Their lead would reach 11 when a pair of free throws made it a 30-19 game with 3:52 remaining in the half. The Aces took control in the final minutes, completing the period on a 12-4 run to make it a 34-31 score at the break. Gage Bobe got things rolling with his second triple of the game.
After a Preston Phillips bucket, the Redbirds called a time out and scored four of the next six points to stabilize a 34-26 edge with 84 ticks on the clock. Marvin Coleman II picked up his second field goal before the Aces forced a turnover on the in-bound. Strawbridge hit a free throw to make it a 5-point game and the defense got the job done once again. Forcing the 13th Redbird turnover of the half, Strawbridge took it the distance for a layup in the final seconds to make it a 34-31 game heading into the locker room.
Illinois State extended the lead back to seven points in the opening two minutes of the second half before Evansville fought back once again. Antoine Smith Jr. drained a 3-pointer and Coleman added four points to make it a 43-41 game in favor of the Redbirds as the contest entered its final 12 minutes.
Strawbridge capped off a 7-0 run with a trey that put the Aces back in front by one at the 11:27 mark before a Coleman triple with 9:45 remaining completed an 11-2 run that gave UE a 48-45 edge. Illinois State hit back-to-back shots to jump back in front and the teams would swap the lead multiple times down the stretch. Evansville took four leads over the next sequence but ISU fought back each time, leading to a 60-60 score with under three minutes remaining.
Knocking down 9 out of 10 attempts, the Redbirds answered each time before changing the course of the game with an 11-0 run that turned a 60-58 deficit into a 69-60 advantage in the final minute of play. They would take the game by a 69-61 final. ISU shot 48.0% in the game while holding the Aces to 37.5%. The Redbirds also outrebounded the Aces by a 37-24 margin.
On Wednesday, UE will be in Peoria, Ill. for a 7 p.m. game versus Bradley.
