UE outlasts Beacons in exciting contest
 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Contributions came from all ten University of Evansville men’s basketball players on Wednesday evening as the Purple Aces got back on the winning track with a 78-75 Missouri Valley Conference win over Valparaiso inside the Ford Center.
Yacine Toumi and Chuck Bailey III recorded 13 points apiece while Kenny Strawbridge Jr. scored 11 and Antonio Thomas posted 10. Josh Hughes registered a team-high nine rebounds and contributed eight points. Toumi hauled in eight caroms. Tanner Cuff had nine tallies while Ben Humrichous returned to the floor and scored seven points. Cam Haffner scored five points but dished out three assists in the winning effort. Isaiah Stafford connected on 10 of his 19 attempts on his way to 31 points.
“For us to go through the stretch that we did over the last five games was tough. Having Ben back helped but everyone made a contribution,†UE head men’s basketball coach David Ragland said after the win. “It was a complete team win; we had four in double figures and three more right there. Josh and Yacine came close to double-doubles and Cam Haffner came in and played unbelievable minutes, especially when we pushed the lead to nine.â€
Hitting their opening two shots of the game, the Beacons took a 5-0 lead out of the gate. After missing the previous five games, Ben Humrichous made his return and hit Evansville’s first basket of the night. Following a Yacine Toumi field goal, Antonio Thomas connected from downtown to put the Purple Aces up 7-5 before Kenny Strawbridge Jr. followed with a triple that capped a 10-0 run.
Just over six minutes into the contest, Josh Hughes knocked down UE’s third outside shot to give his team its largest lead of the period at 17-9. Valpo countered with the next four points, but it was Tanner Cuff scoring off a turnover to reestablish the 8-point lead at 21-13 inside of the 12-minute mark. Posting eight of the next nine points, the Beacons cut the deficit to one before retaking a 30-27 lead with three free throws with 7:16 remaining.
Three more lead changes took place in the final minutes of the period with Hughes recording his second make of the game to send the Aces to the break with a 40-38 lead.
Out of the break, the first basket belonged to the Beacons, who retook a 41-40 lead with their 7th triple of the evening. Just as he had in the first half, Humrichous opened the scoring in the second stanza. His long triple put UE back in front and a Valpo foul saw the Aces retain possession. With the shot clock running down, Strawbridge converted from outside to give Evansville a 46-41 edge.
Eight in a row by the Beacons saw them retake the lead at 49-47 as the teams would exchange the lead once again. As the final period reached its midway point, Evansville slowly took control. With the score knotted at 59-59, UE recorded 12 of the next 15 points to take its largest lead at 71-62 at the 6:16 mark. Cam Haffner knocked down a 3-pointer before a slick pass to Chuck Bailey III resulted in another triple that capped off the run.
Valparaiso had one more run left in the tank and cut the gap to one at 74-73 inside the final two minutes. Tanner Cuff hit a shot that pushed the lead back to three, but the Beacons matched it on the other end. With Evansville up by one, Toumi was fouled with 19 ticks remaining and came through with two clutch free throw makes. In VU’s final possession, Hughes forced a turnover and the Aces hung on to clinch the victory.
Evansville shot 50.9% on the night while limiting Valparaiso to 44.4%. The Beacons had a slight 32-31 edge on the boards and converted 11 triples with UE hitting 10.
This weekend, the Aces embark to Iowa for road contests at Drake (Saturday at 5 p.m.) and UNI (Tuesday at 7 p.m.).
