Givance and Newton lead UE in road contest at Bradley

Aces return home on Tuesday night

An extended rally in the second half saw Bradley turn what was a 7-point lead into a 79-47 win over the University of Evansville men’s basketball team on Wednesday night inside Carver Arena.

Jawaun Newton and Shamar Givance led the Purple Aces (4-11, 0-4 MVC) with 16 points apiece.  Newton added eight rebounds.  Freshman Preston Phillips had his top defensive effort, hauling in a career-best 9 board with eight coming on the defensive end.  Leading Bradley (8-9, 2-3 MVC) was Rienk Mast with 23 points and 13 boards, both game highs.  Terry Roberts added 19 points and 10 caroms.

“We defended pretty well initially and kept it manageable at halftime, trailing by just 12 points,” UE head coach Todd Lickliter said.  “In the second half, we had some good possessions to cut into the lead, but Bradley got on a roll and we were not able to keep up.”

Neither team had success finding the bottom of the net in the opening moments with both crews combining to miss the first seven shots of the game.  After Bradley opened the scoring, Jawaun Newton gave UE a 3-2 lead with a triple.  The Braves retook the lead, going up 11-5 while the shooting woes continued for the Aces, who started the game 1-for-11 from the field.

Shamar Givance got Evansville back within a possession at 11-8 when he converted a 3-point play.  Momentum swung right back to the Braves, who reeled off the next seven points to take the first double-digit lead of the night at 18-8 with 8:46 left in the half.  Their lead reached as many as 14 points (31-17) in the opening 20 minutes before the Aces cut it to a 36-24 contest at the break.

Another Newton triple in the opening minutes of the second half cut the Bradley deficit to seven (38-31), but BU knocked down a triple on the ensuing possession and would score the next 10 points to take a 17-point advantage.  Inside of the 14-minute mark. The third triple of the half by Malevy Leons extended the Braves lead to 53-33.

What would turn into a 29-7 run, Bradley would go up 67-38 with the game entering the final 10 minutes.  Emmette Page connected on a three with seven minutes remaining to halt the run, but the Braves would continue to add to the advantage in the final minutes on he way to clinching the win.  Bradley finished the night with a 47-26 rebounding edge while shooting 48.4%.

On Tuesday, January 18, the Aces will return to the Ford Center to take on Loyola.