Evansville Men Defeat Albion, 65-49

Four Players Registered 11 Points For The Aces

 Four Purple Aces tallied 11 points apiece on Saturday as the University of Evansville men’s basketball team earned a 65-49 victory over Albion inside the Ford Center.

Marty Hill, K.J. Riley, Noah Frederking and Dainius Chatkevicius recorded 11 points apiece to lead the Aces (4-3).  For Chatkevicius, it was his second double figure game in a row and his season-high in points. He added nine rebounds. Evan Kuhlman was just behind with 9 tallies. John Hall tied his career mark with 12 caroms. With the win, UE moved over .500 for the season while improving its home record to a perfect 4-0.

“I thought we got off to a better start in the second half and played with more pace.  We did not play with any fire or purpose in the first half. I knew if we played with more energy, we could get it going,” UE head coach Walter McCarty said.  “Our guys like playing basketball together and look for each other. We’re getting there, it is a slow process. We are grateful that we were able to win the basketball game and just need to keep working at it to get better.”

Albion (4-2) saw Jamezell Davis record 15 points.  They attempted 34 3-pointers, the highest total an Evansville opponent has taken at the Ford Center.

The lid was on the basket for both teams in the opening minutes as the squads combined to miss their first 14 shots. Albion missed its first six shots before hitting one to take a 2-0 lead. After going 0-for-14 in the opening seven minutes, Evansville got on the board when Noah Frederking drilled a three.

On the next possession, Dainius Chatkevicius hit a layup to tie the game at 5-5 before a free throw by Jawaun Newton gave UE its first lead at 6-5.  Evansville continued to hold the lead for the remainder of the period, pushing its advantage to as many as eight points as a pair of Frederking free throws gave the team a 23-15 lead.  Over the final 2:14 of the period, the Britons hit two treys, going on a 7-1 run to cut the UE lead to just one at the break – 24-23. Frederking had six points in the half while John Hall grabbed seven boards.

UE’s offense came out better in the second half, knocking down its first two shots to push its lead back to five.  Just over seven minutes in, Shamar Givance found K.J. Riley for his third bucket of the game to push the lead to double figures for the first time at 39-29.  Albion continued to fight back, getting with seven points before the Aces took control. Up 41-34, UE scored 11 in a row to extend its lead to 52-34 with eight minutes remaining.  A triple by Milton Barnes ended the streak.

Evansville’s double figure lead held strong in the final minutes with the Aces taking the win by a final of 65-49.

After starting the game 0-for-14, UE improved to finish the game at 37.9%.  In the second half, Evansville hit 51.9% of its tries. Albion finished the game at 27.1%.  Points in the paint made a huge difference as UE finished with a 32-4 advantage. Evansville also finished with a 10-0 final in fast break points and 17-7 in points off turnovers.

Next up for the Aces is a road game at Arkansas State on Tuesday evening at 7 p.m.