UE returns home Saturday to face Valparaiso
Â
DES MOINES, Iowa – Blake Sisley and Blaise Beauchamp reached double figures for the University of Evansville men’s basketball team on Wednesday evening in a 73-51 road loss to Drake inside the Knapp Center.
Sisdley led the Purple Aces (6-19, 2-12 MVC) with 14 points. He hit six field goals, including two triples. Beauchamp reached double figures for the third game in a row, scoring 12 points with four of his six triples finding the bottom of the net. Preston Phillips and Shamar Givance paced UE with seven boards while Evan Kuhlman registered a team-high three assists. The Bulldogs (18-9, 9-5 MVC) had four players score in double digits, led by Tucker DeVries’ 16-point game. Shanquan Hemphill completed the game with 14.
Drake hit its first six attempts of the game on the way to a 13-3 lead. Blaise Beauchamp got UE on the board with a triple to cut an early 6-0 deficit in half, but the Bulldogs continued to shoot lights out. A 9-of-10 start to the game saw the Bulldogs add to the lead even more, going up 19-3.
Following a 1-of-7 start by the Aces, Gage Bobe drove to the basket and connected on UE’s second field goal of the game. The momentum did not last as Drake continued to shoot at an unbelievable rate, taking a 28-7 with 8:51 remaining in the half. Preston Phillips knocked down his first three attempts of the game and helped UE cut the gap to 28-11 with 7:34 left in the half, forcing a Bulldogs time out.
Over the final stretch, Drake rebounded to outscore the Aces by a 19-4 margin to go into halftime with a 47-15 lead. The Bulldogs shot 73.3% (22/30) in the opening stanza. The lead continued to grow in the second half with a 7-2 stretch for DU making it a 54-17 game in the opening moments. At the 11:52 mark, Drake took its largest lead at 63-25.
Evansville countered with a 13-2 stretch that included triples by Evan Kuhlman and Blake Sisley that cut into the DU advantage. Evansville never gave up and cut even further into the gap, finishing with the 73-51 defeat. After trailing by its largest deficit, UE completed the game outscoring Drake by a 26-10 margin.
This weekend, UE returns to the Ford Center for a 1 p.m. game against Valparaiso on Saturday.
