Men’s Basketball Holds Off Canisius, 65-58

Aces Improve To 8-2 On The Season 

Four days after setting his career mark with 25 points, sophomore Dru Smith poured in 17 to lead the University of Evansville men’s basketball team to a 65-58 win over Canisius on Saturday at the Ford Center.

Another great all-around effort saw Smith go 8-9 from the free throw line for UE (8-2) while posing six assists.  Blake Simmons finished with 12 points, four assists and three rebounds.  Dainius Chatkevicius led all players with nine rebounds and also had seven points.

“I was pleased with the result today,” UE head coach Marty Simmons said.  “Our guys really hung in there and showed real resilience and toughness and made enough plays to get the job done.”

Evansville shot 52.1% on the game while holding Canisius to 37.7%.  The Golden Griffins were just 6-of-33 from outside and were 6/9 from the line.  UE hit 22 free throws in 28 attempts.

“To me, this game was decided at the free throw line,” Blake Simmons said.  “We did a good job of not sending them to the line in the first half, but in the second half, we fouled a little too much.  John and K.J. knocking their free throws down were clutch.”

John Hall, who scored six points and had four rebounds hit two free throws in the final minute of the win.  He said that the team was prepared to defend the outside shot against the Golden Griffins.

“All week, the coaches said they were going to shoot plenty of 3’s no matter what part of the floor they were on,” he explained.  “Our defense held them in check.”

Jermaine Crumpton posted a team-high 14 points to lead the Golden Griffins (4-6) while Isaiah Reese notched 13.

Smith led everyone with 10 points in the first half, but it was Canisius who got on the board first.  The Golden Griffins scored the first four points of the game to take an early lead.  The Aces came back with six in a row before a pair of triples put Canisius back in front by a 10-6 margin at the 12 minute mark.

Marty Hill’s bucket ended the drought and sent UE on a 10-0 run that gave them a 16-10 advantage.  Five Aces found their way into the scorebook on the run.  Two free throws from Smith gave UE its largest lead at 21-12 with 6:11 on the clock.  Canisius rallied with a run of their own, scoring seven in a row to get back with a pair at 21-19, but the Aces found their groove in the final minute.  An 8-2 run to end the half set the lead at 31-23 going into halftime.

In the opening possession of the second half, Smith struck again.  The first 3-pointer of the day for the Purple Aces gave them the first double-digit advantage of the game at 34-23.  That was the first of seven in a row for UE to open up the second half and take a 38-23 lead.  Daniels Chatkevicius and Blake Simmons also had baskets in the run.

Isaiah Reese responded for Canisius, knocking down a pair of triples to spearhead a 9-0 run to get them back within six points with 15:14 left in the game.  Evansville was able to push lead back up to 10, but the Golden Griffins never gave up.  Trailing 52-43, they notched the next four to cut the deficit to five points.

A Chatkevicius free throw ended the stretch with under four minutes remaining, but a basket from Jermaine Crumpton on the ensuing possession made it a 53-49 game, the closest Canisius had been in the second half.  Crumpton added a free throw on the next trip down the floor to cut the UE lead to three, 53-50.

Smith played a pivotal role in putting a stop to the rally.  With just over two minutes on the clock, he knocked down both ends of a one-and-one to help the Aces regain a 2-possession lead.  After a Canisius miss, Evan Kuhlman connected on two more from the line as the lead was pushed to 57-50.

In a game that featured several runs by both squads, Canisius had one more push left.  Back-to-back field goals got them right back in the game at 57-54 with 1:24 left.  After Smith knocked down two more free throws, Crumpton struck again for the Griffs.  His second from long range made it even closer – 59-57.

From that point on, the Aces put the game on ice, going 6-6 from the free throw line in the final minute to clinch the 65-58 victory.

Two home games are up for the Aces next weekend, starting on Saturday when the squad welcomes Austin Peay for a 3 p.m. game.  On Sunday, UE takes on Midway in another 3 p.m. tilt at the Ford Center.