UE wins by final of 76-47
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Four players recorded double figures to pace the University of Evansville men’s basketball team to a 76-47 victory over Oakland City on Sunday afternoon at the Ford Center.
“Our goal was to learn about ourselves and get better every game,” Purple Aces head coach David Ragland said. “It was good to come home this weekend and have two games this weekend. Being part of Education Day on Friday was memorable for our guys and to bounce back and perform like we did today was good to see.”
Connor Turnbull was the leading scorer in the contest finishing with 14 points on a 5-for-9 effort from the field. Josh Hughes and Bryce Quinet recorded 13 points apiece while AJ Casey scored 10. For the third game in a row, Trent Hundley tallied nine points while adding six boards. Leif Moeller led the team with seven assists and seven rebounds.
Hughes’ triple capped a 3-for-3 start from the field that gave the Purple Aces an 8-2 lead just over two minutes into the game. The Mighty Oaks countered with a 6-1 run to make it a 9-8 game before a layup by Hughes put UE back in front at 14-8.
Up 14-11 at the 14:25 mark, Evansville scored the next 13 points over the ensuing five minutes to open a 27-11 advantage. The defense held OCU to seven misses in a row while opening the 16-point lead. Trent Hundley had four points during the run before a Kaia Berridge triple completed the run.
Oakland City continued to fight back, utilizing an 11-1 stretch to cut the deficit to just six points with 4:40 left in the period. UE rebounded to push lead back to 13 points at the break as Bryce Quinet hit a triple on UE’s final possession of the half. Connor Turnbull led all players with 10 points in the half.
Out of the break, UE took control with Turnbull converting two baskets to push the lead to 17. Inside the 16-minute mark, AJ Casey’s basket gave Evansville its first 20-point lead at 49-29. With seven minutes on the clock, it was AJ Casey’s 3-pointer that made it a 27-point game at 68-41. The lead for the Aces reached as many as 28 points before the final score finished at 76-47.
Kalik Sharpe and Chris Grubbs led the Mighty Oaks with 10 points each. UE finished the game shooting 49.1% while OCU checked in at 27.1%. Evansville also held the rebounding edge by a 42-35 final.
On Wednesday, the Aces are back at the Ford Center to face Middle Tennessee State at 7 p.m.
