Men’s basketball earns 83-61 exhibition win

UE set for regular season

 Contributions came from everywhere as the University of Evansville men’s basketball team defeated New Mexico Highlands by a final of 83-61 in exhibition play on Saturday afternoon.

Four players finished in double figures for the Aces, who are under the direction of new head coach Walter McCarty.  Leading the way was senior Dainius Chatkevicius, who posted 17 points and 8 rebounds, both team highs.  K.J. Riley drained seven free throws on his way to a 16-point outing.  Marty Hill and John Hall recorded 12 points apiece.

Today’s game was a great boost for Chatkevicius, whose career-high in scoring came last season at Duke when he finished with 12 points.

“Coach said to play with confidence and work hard, I feel like that made a difference,” Chatkevicius exclaimed.

New Mexico Highlands saw Gerad Davis lead all players with 20 points while Nnamdi Okoro registered 11 caroms, the top tally in the contest.

“It was a fun game and atmosphere, I am so happy the fans came out and supported us,” McCarty said.  “We just have to keep getting better. Our guys were a little anxious to begin the game, but they settled down after a few minutes and played well.”

Evansville took its first lead of the game as an and-one by K.J. Riley gave UE a 3-2 advantage.  New Mexico Highlands responded with a 13-6 stretch that saw them open up a 15-9 lead at the 12:26 mark.

That is when UE put it into high gear, finishing the half on a 27-12 run to take a 36-27 lead into the break.  A Marty Hill layup put the Aces back in front by a 16-15 score before Shea Feehan wrapped up a 10-0 Evansville run with a triple.  Chatkevicius got in on the outside shooting, draining one from downtown to push the lead to 22-15.

Hill moved into double figures in the final minute giving Evansville a 36-26 lead before a free throw by the Cowboys cut their deficit to nine at the half.

The opening moments of the second half saw the Aces take full control.  A 15-1 run over the first four minutes of the period gave UE a 51-28 advantage.  John Hall spearheaded the run, scoring seven of those points before Evan Kuhlman capped it off with his first trey of the night.

UE’s lead reached as many as 26 points – 73-47 – with 5:21 remaining before the Cowboys closed the gap to 22 in the end, making it a final of 83-61.

All ten players for Evansville found their way into the scorebook.  Graduate transfer Shea Feehan commented on the new philosophy of the team.

“We will not depend on one guy to do all of the scoring, Feehan explained.  “We have a lot of guys who can make plays and it showed today.”

An accurate outing from the floor saw the Aces shoot 50.9% while holding New Mexico Highlands to 34.3%.  UE also forced 19 turnovers.  McCarty commended his squad for their effort on the defensive side.

“Our guys did a really good job of executing our defensive schemes and finishing plays with rebounds,” he said.  “Dainius was huge for us, the more he plays and the more he gets in shape, the larger of a factor he will be for us.”

UE opens the regular season on Thursday at the University of Illinois in a 7 p.m. matchup.