UE returns home for Senior Day
CHICAGO – Gabriel Pozzato scored 23 points while Tayshawn Comer added 22 on Saturday to pace the University of Evansville men’s basketball team in an 82-77 setback at UIC inside Credit Union 1 Arena.
Pozzato connected on nine of his 20 field goal tries while picking up six boards. Comer added seven boards and seven assists to his tally. Connor Turnbull added 18 points.
“I thought our guys played with good energy and it really showed early in the second half. At the end of the day it came down to rebounding and UIC did a great job from the beginning,” UE head coach David Ragland said. “Down the stretch, every time we needed a big stop, we just could not get it.”
Converting their first three attempts, the Purple Aces held an early 8-5 lead. Tayshawn Comer scored six of those points. UIC got things going and took its first lead of 9-8 less than four minutes into the contest. Two minutes later, the Flames extend the lead to 14-10. Evansville countered by scoring nine in a row to go up 19-14 as a step back triple by Comer highlighted the stretch.
As the half approached the midway point, Gabriel Pozzato’s 3-pointer put the Aces back up by five – 22-17. Over the next four minutes, UIC took control as they scored 14 in a row to take their largest lead at 31-17. The Flames knocked down five of their six shot attempts to go back in front. Their advantage reached 10 points in the final minutes before UE cut the deficit to eight at halftime – 39-31. Making the difference in the period was points off turnovers as the Flames finished with a 9-0 advantage.
Pozzato opened the second half with a triple before Comer added a bucket to cut the deficit to three. With 15:26 remaining, a layup put the Flames back up by six at 47-41. Just as UIC did in the first half, Evansville made a big run in the second. Helped by triples from Josh Hughes and Comer, the Aces scored ten in a row to go up 51-47 inside of the 13-minute mark. Tanner Cuff had the floater that put Evansville back on top.
The lead for the Aces reached five points at 55-50 and the squad continued to hold a 60-57 edge inside of 10 minutes remaining. UIC fought back once again, outscoring UE by an 18-2 margin while taking a 75-62 lead with 2:34 on the clock. During the stretch, the Aces missed eight of their nine field goal attempts.
In the final minute, the Aces did their best to claw back as a triple by Cuff cut the deficit all the way down to five points and that would be the final as the Flames hung on for the 82-77 win. The Flames were led by Modestas Kancleris who recorded 18 points and 10 boards. Ahmad Henderson II and Sasa Ciani finished with 13 apiece.
Evansville completed the day shooting 46.7% while the Flames finished at 40.6%. UIC outrebounded the Aces by a 38-28 tally.
On Wednesday, the Aces wrap up the home schedule with a 7 p.m. game against Drake.
