Aces outlast Belmont to pick up road win
UE takes 80-75 win in Nashville
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – In a back-and-forth game that featured 18 lead changes, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team outlasted Belmont to take an 80-75 victory on Sunday afternoon inside Curb Event Center.
Gabriel Pozzato led the way with 22 points for UE while Tayshawn Comer added 19 points, 6 assists, and 5 boards. Josh Hughes and Connor Turnbull finished with 14 points and 6 rebounds apiece while Tanner Cuff led all players with 13 caroms.
“Our guys felt like we gave them (Belmont) a win at the Ford Center and we wanted to do everything we could to change that today,” UE head coach David Ragland said after the win. “We came out ready to play from the start. Belmont is a great offensive team and we knew they would hit shots. The key was being able to grab the rebounds when they miss and we did a good job with that.”
An exciting first half saw nine lead changes with Evansville holding the lead for just under 15 minutes. A putback by Connor Turnbull opened the scoring before a bucket by Gabriel Pozzato gave the Purple Aces a 4-0 lead. Belmont quickly tied the score at 4-4 before taking their first lead at 9-6.
Trailing by a score of 11-8, Pozzato scored five in a row to put UE back in front. The squads swapped the lead multiple times approaching the midway point of the half before the Aces made their run. With Belmont up 17-16, UE scored eight in a row to take a 23-17 edge. Tayshawn Comer converted a 3-pointer while Hughes and Tanner Cuff scored to force a Bruin time out.
With 7:23 remaining in the period, Belmont cut the deficit to one while Gui Tesch answered on the other end before a Kaia Berridge triple extended the lead back to six points at 30-24 heading into the final four minutes. In the final minute of the half, a layup saw BU retake the lead. Free throws by each team in the final seconds saw two more lead changes with the Bruins heading to the break with a 38-37 edge.
Evansville’s opening possession of the second half saw Pozzato fouled on a triple. The freshman knocked down all three attempts to put the Aces back on top. Three minutes in, two more triples put Belmont in front – 48-45. With 14:50 on the clock, Belmont retook a 51-49 edge while Evansville countered with a Hughes triple to go up 54-51 a minute later.
The Bruins fought back to tie the game on multiple occasions but UE answered each time. Inside the 8-minute mark, two more Pozzato free throws pushed the lead to two possessions at 66-62. With 5:13 remaining, a drive by Comer made it a 69-64 game. The Bruins were not done, responding with seven in a row to retake a 71-69 lead inside of four minutes remaining.
Following a pair of Pozzato free throws, the defense forced a miss and Turnbull had a tip-in dunk on the opposite end to put UE in front – 73-71. With 1:54 remaining, a second chance basket by the Bruins put them in front, but UE responded just a few seconds later to take the lead for good. Another Turnbull dunk paved the way for a 7-1 game-ending run. UE’s defense forced five missed shots in the final two minutes to seal the win.
Belmont was led by Jonathan Pierre’s 19 points. The Bruins shot 42.4% in the game while UE finished at 41.5%. The Aces wrapped up the day with a 44-35 rebounding edge.
UE is back home on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. game against Southern Illinois.
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