Aces face Illinois State or Indiana State on Saturday
ST LOUIS –It was the senior trio of D.J. Balentine, Adam Wing and Egidijus Mockevicius pacing the squad once again as they led the University of Evansville men’s basketball team to a 66-56 win over Missouri State in the quarterfinals of Arch Madness on Friday evening at Scottrade Center.
With the win, UE will face either Illinois State or Indiana State on Saturday at 5 p.m. The game will be carried on the CBS Sports Network.
Balentine recorded 21 points as he knocked down 8 of his 17 attempts. Wing finished the night with 13 points while Mockevicius posted his 10th double-double and national leading 27th of the season. He had 12 points and 18 rebounds; his tally of 18 is the most in an MVC Tournament game since it moved to St. Louis 26 years ago. In three games against the Bears (13-19) this season, Mockevicius has averaged 17 boards. Joining the trio was junior Jaylon Brown, who notched 11 points and 6 rebounds.
For UE (24-8) head coach Marty Simmons, it marked the 150th victory in his time at Evansville.
“It was a tough game. I want to give Coach Lusk, his assistants and his team a lot of credit. They have battled through a lot of adversity and they play extremely hard. It was a very competitive game,†Simmons said. “We’re extremely happy and pleased to move on. I felt like we did some good things and its always good to advance.â€
Shots were falling in for the Aces as they connected on five of their first six attempts to take a 12-8 lead in the opening moments. Mockevicius posted 6 points and 5 boards over that span as UE took the early advantage. Evansville would take a 20-14 lead before a Chris Kendrix triple cut the gap to 20-17.
At that point, DJ Balentine found his groove. A triple capped off what would be a 7-0 run that pushed Evansville’s lead to double figures for the first time at 27-17 with 8:27 remaining in the opening period. Over the final minutes of the half, the Bears defense held the Aces to 1-of-15 shooting as the Aces also missed their final nine shots. They outscored UE by an 8-2 margin to make it a 29-25 game at the break.
Missouri State continued to fight in the second half. In the first minute, a triple by Wing put UE up 34-27, but a 7-0 stretch saw the Bears tie it right up at 34-34 just over two minutes later. With the score tied at 36, Evansville made its move, scoring six in a row and never looking back.
With 7:57 remaining, the Bears cut the gap to three at 48-45 on a Dequon Miller layup. That is where Balentine took over. Back-to-back triples put the Aces up nine and they were able to hang on from there. MSU got within seven in the final minutes, but that was it as UE was able to survive and advance.
The Aces now have their eyes set on either Illinois State or Indiana State. UE split the season series with both in 2016.
“We’re thankful to be in the position that we’re in,†Wing commented. “Our senior class had never made it to the semifinals before and we are so excited.â€
Balentine echoed those sentiments.
“Whoever we play, we’re going to be ready to go,†he said.
