Duane Gibson’s career game led the University of Evansville men’s basketball team to its third win in a row as the Purple Aces took down Southern Illinois by a final score of 75-70 on Saturday afternoon at SIU Arena.  Gibson connected on 10 of his 15 attempts to finish with 27 points and also set his career high with 10 rebounds to lead UE (13-14, 4-10 MVC).  Jaylon Brown finished the day with 14 points while Ryan Taylor and David Howard recorded 13 and 12 points, respectively.   “We knew it would be important to get off to a good start.  They are a tough team to play and this is a tough place to play,†Evansville head coach Marty Simmons said.  “I was very proud of the start we got off to; we executed very well.† Leo Vincent was the top performer for the Salukis (14-13, 7-7 MVC) as he scored 21 points.  That tally included five 3-pointers.  Sean O’Brien posted 18 points while Aaron Cook had 11.  David Howard registered four early points as the Aces hit 4 of their opening 5 shots to take an 8-4 lead.  Seconds later, Ryan Taylor hit his first shot of the game, nailing a triple to put UE up 11-4 at the 5-minute mark.  Midway through the opening stanza, Christian Benzon connected on an and-one to give UE its first double figure lead at 20-8.  After Leo Vincent knocked down a trey on the ensuing possession, Taylor connected from downtown once again to put the Aces up 25-13 with just over eight minutes left.  Evansville’s defense forced SIU to hit just 5 of their opening 19 attempts (26.3%) while drawing three charges in the first 12 minutes.  The lead reached as many as 13 for the Purple Aces with 5:52 remaining before a pair of free throws in the final seconds saw SIU cut the gap to 36-26 at halftime.  Gibson paced the Aces with 10 points at the break.  Coming out of the locker room, SIU got back within double figures at 37-28 before Evansville posted four in a row to match its largest lead of the afternoon at 13 points.  Five minutes in, Gibson continued his stellar game, putting back an offensive board to give the Purple Aces a 45-30 edge.  Southern Illinois bounced back, registering five in a row over the next minute and got within 9 as a triple from Aaron Cook made it a 49-40 game midway through the period.  Evansville bounced back with a run of its own as a Christian Benzon trey was the pivotal bucket in an 11-5 stretch that gave the Aces a 61-45 lead with six minutes remaining.  Leo Vincent was a one man show in the final minutes for the Salukis knocking down three 3-pointers in the span of two minutes to cut the UE lead to just six at 66-60.  Gibson put an end to the stretch, driving to the basket for his 25th point of the day, setting a career-high.  He later added a pair of free throws with 30 seconds left.   The Salukis continued to rally as a Mike Rodriguez bucket cut the UE lead to three points with nine seconds remaining.  Jaylon Brown calmly knocked down both free throws as UE held on for the exciting 75-70 triumph.  A solid shooting performance saw the Aces finish at 54% while holding Southern Illinois to 40%.  UE also had a 36-30 rebounding advantage in the game.  Today’s win marked the 4th road win in a row over the Salukis, marking the first time Evansville has done that in a series that started in 1927.  Evansville is back home on Tuesday night to take on Drake in a 7 p.m. contest.
