Brown and Vucetic each had career highs in the game
Jaylon Brown and Sergej Vucetic were the stars of the show as the University of Evansville men’s basketball team opened up the Challenge in Music City with an 83-79 loss in double overtime to Toledo at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium.
Brown’s final total was the most since D.J. Balentine notched 43 at UNI on January 29, 2014. He hit 14 of his 28 attempts in the game and also hauled in a career-best 11 rebounds. For Brown, it marked his fourth game in a row with 19 points or more to open the season. Vucetic also had a solid game for the Purple Aces (2-2), tallying 13 points and 8 rebounds, both career highs. The Rockets were led by Luke Knapke’s 19 points. Steve Taylor and Jaelan Sanford notched 15 apiece.
“It was a hard-fought game today. We played our hearts out and so did Toledo,†head coach Marty Simmons said. “We showed a lot of fight and did some good things and we will be ready to face UNC Wilmington tomorrow.â€
Toledo came out firing on all cylinders, knocking down four of their first five shots on their way to a 10-3 lead. Following an Aces timeout, the squad responded with 11 points in a row. Jaylon Brown got it started with a runout before connecting on a triple. Ryan Taylor gave UE its first lead at 12-10 as he hit a pair of free throws six minutes in.
Back-and-forth action continued as the Rockets retook the lead at 22-20 and pushed the lead to four before the Aces made their way back in front. Behind 13 first-half points from Brown, the Aces took a 32-29 lead into the break.
Out of the locker room, Brown was at it again. Sergej Vucetic notched two buckets while Brown registered his sixth of the night as the Aces opened up a 38-29 lead in the opening three minutes of the second half. Evansville native Jaelan Sanford ended the run with a triple to get the Rockets within six at 38-32.
Evansville added to its lead, holding a 42-34 advantage with under 14 minutes to go, but Toledo came back. Four quick tallies cut the gap in half before UE punched back to go back up 46-40. Back-to-back treys helped the Rockets go on an 8-2 run as they knotted the score at 48-48 with just over seven minutes remaining.
Jaylon Brown willed the Aces back on top. He scored seven in a row for UE as they retook the lead at 55-50. Toledo kept fighting back as a 7-0 run gave them a 57-55 lead. Brown continued his career performance as his 28th point of the evening gave UE a 63-58 advantage with exactly one minute left on the clock.
Nate Navigato countered with a triple on the other end to get UT within two. After a UE missed bucket, the Rockets tied it up at 63 with a pair of free throws to send the game to overtime. On the first possession of the extra period, they got the lead back with a Steve Taylor jump shot. Brown gave UE the lead back at 67-65 midway through the extra period but the excitement continued as the 8th triple of the night for UT gave them a 68-67 edge.
The score was tied with 15 ticks left before two more free throws put the Rockets back on top. Brown added two more points with six seconds left as the Aces forced another overtime period. He struck first in the second extra session with four in a row to put UE up 76-72. Just as they had all game long, Toledo refused to give up. An and-one by Sanford cut the UE lead to one at 78-77. Following an Aces miss, they took the lead back on a layup and hung on for the 83-79 victory.
Evansville last played in a double overtime game on January 29, 2012, a 90-81 home loss to Indiana State. Prior to that, the Aces played a 2OT contest at Tennessee Tech on Dec. 1, 2009, winning by a final of 91-90.
Tomorrow night, the squad is right back in action as they take on UNC Wilmington at 5 p.m. inside the Nashville Municipal Auditorium.
