Haffner posts top game of UE career

Aces defeat Brescia by a final of 96-49 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Junior Cam Haffner put forth the top effort of his Purple Aces career to pace the University of Evansville men’s basketball team to a 96-49 win over Brescia at the Ford Center on Saturday.

Haffner connected on six field goal tries while adding a pair of triples and two assists.  Tayshawn Comer was the leading scorer in the contest, finishing with 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting while Gabriel Pozzato added 18 points.  He was 8-for-13 from the field while recording four assists, three steals, and two boards.

Tanner Cuff set a new career-best with 14 rebounds while picking up eight assists and six points.  He was 3-for-3 from the field.

Brescia had the early momentum, taking a 5-0 lead to open the game.  Gabriel Pozzato turned a steal into a dunk before knocking down a triple to tie the game.  After starting the game 0-for-6 from the field, the Aces made six in a row to open a 15-6 lead. Tayshawn Comer recorded five points during the run while Josh Hughes added a triple.

Up 19-11, Evansville went on a 14-0 run to open a 33-11 lead.  Cam Haffner scored five during the rally while Connor Turnbull hit a triple.  The lead for UE reached as many as 26 in final minute of the period before the Aces took a 48-23 lead into the break.  Comer led everyone with 12 points in the half while Haffner had 10.  Cuff had eight boards and five assists in the opening 20 minutes.

Things continued to go the Aces way in the second half as the lead reached as many as 53 points in the final nine minutes before UE took the victory by a final of 96-49.  UE shot 56.3% in the game while holding the Bearcats to 29.2%. Evansville outrebounded Brescia by a final of 50-32.

Ramondo Battle II scored eight points off the bench with Connor Turnbull and Trent Hundley adding seven and six, respectively.  Battle hauled in six boards while Turnbull had a game-high three blocks.  Weston Aigner added five points in the final minutes.

Leading the way for Brescia was Damian Garcia.  He scored 18 points while tying for the team high with four caroms.

UE is back on the road Wednesday, traveling to Middle Tennessee State.

USI hits the road for I-64 Showcase
Screaming Eagles visit Marshall, Bellarmine in showcase

Story Links

• USI Game Notes at Marshall
• USI at Marshall Game Information
• USI at Bellarmine Game Information
• OVC Men’s Basketball Website

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball starts week two of the 2024-25 season by playing in the I-64 Showcase next week, beginning with a visit to Marshall University Monday in Huntington, West Virginia. The USI-Marshall matchup, scheduled for a 6 p.m. (CST) tip, opens a three-game road swing for the Screaming Eagles.

The second and final game of the I-64 Showcase is Wednesday when USI visits Bellarmine University for a 5:30 p.m. (CST) contest in Louisville, Kentucky. USI will be making its first appearance at Knights Hall since the 2019-20 season. The Eagles hold a 53-46 all-time series lead over their former Great Lakes Valley Conference rival.

The three-game road swing will come to a conclusion November 16 when USI visits a second former GLVC rival in Purdue University Fort Wayne. The Eagles-Mastodons contest tips off at 6 p.m. (CST).

All of the action from USI’s upcoming road swing can be seen live on ESPN+. The game can also be heard on ESPN 97.7FM (http://listentotheref.com) and 95.7FM The Spin (http://957thespin.com).

The Eagles hope to get into the win column after a pair of heartbreaking overtime losses to start the season. USI opened with an 80-78 overtime loss to DePaul University Monday and a 75-69 overtime setback to Bucknell University Thursday.

Junior guard Jayland Randall has led the Eagles in scoring in the first two games, posting 19.5 points per game, while sophomore forward Stephen Olowoniyi is averaging 17.5 points per contest.

Marshall began its season with a 90-57 victory over Davis & Elkins College. Marshall is set to host the University of Toledo Saturday before hosting USI. Bellarmine opened the 2024-25 campaign with an 84-65 victory over Virginia Commonwealth University November 4 and is playing Virginia Military Institute at home November 9, prior to playing USI in the I-64 Showcase.

USI resumes its home schedule November 22 when it welcomes the University of South Dakota to Liberty Arena to start a three-game homestand. Tickets are on sale now at USIScreamingEagles.com.

VINCENNES, Ind. – The No. 18-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers opened up their weekend slate at the 2024 McDonald’s Classic Friday night inside the Physical Education Complex.

The Blazers went wire-to-wire over Richard J. Daley College in a 112-59 victory aided by 25 points on a perfect nine for nine from the floor shooting performance out of freshman Dayton Williams (Louisville, Ky.).

Vincennes got the offense going early Friday night, jumping out to an early 24-7 advantage before extending their lead even further with a 14-0 scoring run to take a 38-12 lead midway through the first half.

Vincennes continued to add pressure down the stretch of the opening 20 minute period, outscoring Daley 14-5 to end the first half with a 56-23 lead over the Bulldogs.

VU continued to roll into the second half, using an early 8-0 run to get the Trailblazer lead to 72-28 before later using a 9-0 scoring run to take an 88-36 advantage.

The Trailblazers closed out the game strong, crossing the century mark on the scoreboard for the first time this season and closing out the big 112-59.

“Well it’s always better when the ball goes in,” VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. “We haven’t hit a lot of shots from the outside when we played in jamborees or our first two games of the season, even though we’ve had the capability of shooting it well in the preseason before we started playing.”

“I tried to so some things this week to just get it more solid,” Franklin added. “Keep it simple. It’s, here’s what your doing and it’s real basic and really simple and we’re going to make sure that we’re there. Maybe that helped out with the balance a little bit. When guys are balanced when they shoot it instead of, I probably had them moving around trying to do too much for a young team like this. We tried to get back to basics and tried to be a little more physical in the block.”

“We tried to be a little more simple in our movements outside,” Franklin said. “Just worry about spacing and simple actions and it worked for tonight.”

Vincennes was led offensively by a big night by freshman Dayton Williams, who finished with 25 points, six rebounds, three assists and three blocks on a perfect nine of nine shooting from the floor, including hitting seven of seven from three-point range.

Freshman Kenaz Ochogwu (E. Providence, R.I.) just missed out on a double-double, making a big impact off the bench to end his night with 19 points and eight rebounds.

Sophomore Michael Cooper (Minneapolis, Minn.) recorded his first VU double-double with 15 points and a team-high 11 rebounds on the night.

Sophomore Bryan Akanmu (Paris, France) also finished the night with 15 points, four rebounds and three steals, while freshman Travelle Bryson (Anderson, S.C.) came off the bench to score in double figures, ending with 13 points and six rebounds.

Sophomore and 2024 NJCAA All-American Lebron Thomas (Bishopville, S.C.) distributed the ball well all night, finishing the game with a team-high 11 assists, along with six points and five rebounds.

Freshman Jalen Calloway (Chicago, Ill.) just missed out on scoring in double figures in the first start of his collegiate career, scoring nine points, with seven assists and six rebounds.

“I thought there was a number of good things in the box score tonight,” Franklin said. “I didn’t think we moved our feet defensively very well in the second half. We were okay in the first half. In the second half I thought we started hopping instead of getting down and moving them. Particularly at the four-spot. Their four was attacking us and I’m not really pleased with that but there were a lot of good things out there.”

Eagles open road schedule with loss at No. 17 Louisville

LOUISVILLE – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball was dealt a 75-51 loss by No. 17 University of Louisville on Friday night in Louisville, Kentucky, as the Screaming Eagles faced their first top-25 opponent as a Division I program to open their 2024-25 road schedule. Both teams moved to 1-1 on the season following Friday’s contest.

Southern Indiana came out from the opening tip with good looks on the offensive end. Junior guard Ali Saunders scored USI’s first five points in the opening quarter, including a triple three minutes into the game that had USI within two, 7-5. In the middle of the first, the Screaming Eagles kept it within one possession thanks to five made free throws by graduate forward Meredith Raley. Southern Indiana took its first lead, 13-12, with 3:30 left in the first on a three-pointer by senior guard Vanessa Shafford. The Eagles led 21-17 with under a minute left in the first, but Louisville closed the quarter with a 5-0 run to lead by one going into the second quarter.

The Cardinals built onto their lead with a 15-0 run to start the second period, intensifying their full-court defense and forcing turnovers. Trailing 40-21, it took six minutes before Southern Indiana snapped the drought with two unanswered baskets from sophomore forward Amiyah Buchanan and Saunders. The Eagles then turned up their defense and produced stops, holding Louisville scoreless for nearly four minutes until the Cardinals hit a three with 17 seconds left in the first half. Louisville forced USI into 11 second-quarter turnovers and held USI to only four points in the frame, leading to a 43-25 advantage for the Cardinals at halftime.

Coming out of the locker room, Louisville picked up where it left off in the second quarter by organizing a 10-0 run early in the third quarter. Raley converted a strong layup for Southern Indiana’s first points of the second half near the halfway point of the third stanza. Later, freshman guard Lexi Sepulveda provided a boost off the Southern Indiana bench, scoring a pair of layups in the last four minutes of the third. However, the Cardinals had stretched their lead to 62-36 heading to the fourth quarter.

After Louisville pushed its lead further early in the fourth quarter, Southern Indiana received two layups from post players in Raley and Buchanan. The Cardinals extended their lead to as high as 33 in the fourth, but the Screaming Eagles kept fighting down the stretch. Sepulveda scored twice on fast-break opportunities, and USI’s defense battled late with a couple of steals and taking a charge. Five unanswered points by sophomore guard Triniti Ralston in the last 40 seconds brought the Eagles to within 24, 75-51, before the final buzzer.

Southern Indiana shot 38 percent (21-56) for the game with three triples (3-15). USI went 6-12 at the charity stripe. The Eagles finished with 20 turnovers but also forced Louisville into 19 turnovers. Saunders paced USI and tied a game-high with 15 points on 7-15 shooting with four rebounds and three assists. Raley notched 10 points and four boards.

Louisville finished the game at 45 percent (29-64) from the floor with eight made threes (8-25). The Cardinals were also 50 percent (9-18) at the free-throw line. Louisville won the rebounding battle, 45-31. Graduate forward Olivia Cochran matched a game-high 15 points, and freshman guard Tajianna Roberts tallied 11 points.

The Screaming Eagles continue their road swing Tuesday at Murray State University for an 11 a.m. tipoff. The game can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+ and heard on The Spin 95.7 FM. Additional coverage can be found at usiscreamingeagles.com.

Williams leads No. 18 Trailblazers to big win with perfect shooting game

VINCENNES, Ind. – The No. 18-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers opened up their weekend slate at the 2024 McDonald’s Classic Friday night inside the Physical Education Complex.

The Blazers went wire-to-wire over Richard J. Daley College in a 112-59 victory aided by 25 points on a perfect nine for nine from the floor shooting performance out of freshman Dayton Williams (Louisville, Ky.).

Vincennes got the offense going early Friday night, jumping out to an early 24-7 advantage before extending their lead even further with a 14-0 scoring run to take a 38-12 lead midway through the first half.

Vincennes continued to add pressure down the stretch of the opening 20 minute period, outscoring Daley 14-5 to end the first half with a 56-23 lead over the Bulldogs.

VU continued to roll into the second half, using an early 8-0 run to get the Trailblazer lead to 72-28 before later using a 9-0 scoring run to take an 88-36 advantage.

The Trailblazers closed out the game strong, crossing the century mark on the scoreboard for the first time this season and closing out the big 112-59.

“Well it’s always better when the ball goes in,” VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. “We haven’t hit a lot of shots from the outside when we played in jamborees or our first two games of the season, even though we’ve had the capability of shooting it well in the preseason before we started playing.”

“I tried to so some things this week to just get it more solid,” Franklin added. “Keep it simple. It’s, here’s what your doing and it’s real basic and really simple and we’re going to make sure that we’re there. Maybe that helped out with the balance a little bit. When guys are balanced when they shoot it instead of, I probably had them moving around trying to do too much for a young team like this. We tried to get back to basics and tried to be a little more physical in the block.”

“We tried to be a little more simple in our movements outside,” Franklin said. “Just worry about spacing and simple actions and it worked for tonight.”

Vincennes was led offensively by a big night by freshman Dayton Williams, who finished with 25 points, six rebounds, three assists and three blocks on a perfect nine of nine shooting from the floor, including hitting seven of seven from three-point range.

Freshman Kenaz Ochogwu (E. Providence, R.I.) just missed out on a double-double, making a big impact off the bench to end his night with 19 points and eight rebounds.

Sophomore Michael Cooper (Minneapolis, Minn.) recorded his first VU double-double with 15 points and a team-high 11 rebounds on the night.

Sophomore Bryan Akanmu (Paris, France) also finished the night with 15 points, four rebounds and three steals, while freshman Travelle Bryson (Anderson, S.C.) came off the bench to score in double figures, ending with 13 points and six rebounds.

Sophomore and 2024 NJCAA All-American Lebron Thomas (Bishopville, S.C.) distributed the ball well all night, finishing the game with a team-high 11 assists, along with six points and five rebounds.

Freshman Jalen Calloway (Chicago, Ill.) just missed out on scoring in double figures in the first start of his collegiate career, scoring nine points, with seven assists and six rebounds.

“I thought there was a number of good things in the box score tonight,” Franklin said. “I didn’t think we moved our feet defensively very well in the second half. We were okay in the first half. In the second half I thought we started hopping instead of getting down and moving them. Particularly at the four-spot. Their four was attacking us and I’m not really pleased with that but there were a lot of good things out there.”

“It was great to see Kenaz,” Franklin added. “Kenaz has got talent. He has ability, he’s just raw, young and doesn’t know. We’re trying to make it simple for him now and just play the heck out of this and if he does then he can help us and somewhere down the line he can help us a lot, if he can really work and learn.”

“I thought we were more explosive down there,” Franklin said. “We had a little more pop and a little more oomph. Somebody might feel us a little bit better than they did last weekend with him getting more minutes. We challenged all of them and if you are not playing hard or if you give up something easy, you’re coming out and that’s what we are going to do.”

“We’re really trying to get fundamental, simple and tough,” Franklin added. “I think with a new ball club like this, that’s what we are going to have to do and we may have to do it forever. I don’t know if we will move past that, but we are going to try to get solid. We got the turnovers down a little bit until we got a little sloppy late and started throwing it around. I think some of that also helps. But that’s just how it is. That’s how we are going to have to play and how we are going to have to be with this new squad.”

“I think we can be a good ball club,” Franklin said. “You can see that out there. There are just things that we have to clean up and keep pushing. I think all of JuCo is in a pile. You can see it with all the teams that lost last week, Triton got beat today. Everybody is just kind of there and who is going to focus in, harden up and work their tail off and improve over these next two to three months and try to separate from the pack. I think everybody is basically in the same pack and we’re included in that. We’re trying to get across to our team that it’s all about being tough and fundamental and trying to be energetic about that and competing your tail off and I thought we did better at that tonight.”

The Trailblazers will look to continue this momentum into their next game when VU closes out the weekend against Kennedy-King College tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. eastern on Homecoming Night at Vincennes University.

The Kennedy-King Statesmen fell in the first game of the McDonald’s Classic Friday evening 82-77 to Olney Central College.

“I just want to be better,” Franklin said. “I’d like to be a lot better. I’m not really saying that I’m going to be patient with little incremental improvements, no. We want to be right. We want to be competitive and tough. We want to play 40 minutes and we want to get closer to playing 40 minutes right.”

“I didn’t think we responded really well to the back-to-back last weekend,” Franklin added. “That’s something you do when you’re young and new and haven’t toughened up enough. So we’ll see tomorrow because Kennedy-King did a nice job against Olney today in a very competitive game. They are about in that level where we’ve seen a lot of teams in that level.”

“They are more than capable of beating us if we don’t play well,” Franklin said. “So, it’s a competitive basketball game. We’ll see how we respond and come to shoot around tomorrow. Are we better tomorrow than we were tonight. I hope a lot better and I think we were better tonight than we were last weekend. We just have to race that race all year long and see where it gets us. But that’s what I want to see tomorrow.”

VINCENNES BOX

VINCENNES (112): Bryan Akanmu 7-9 1-3 15, Michael Cooper 7-11 0-0 15, Jalen Calloway 4-10 1-2 9, Lebron Thomas 2-6 2-2 6, Dayton Williams 9-9 0-0 25, Christian Andrews 0-1 0-0 0, Meyoh Swansey 0-8 0-0 0, Taveon Smith 2-4 0-1 4, Travelle Bryson 5-10 0-0 13, Darstin Onye 0-3 0-0 0, Kenaz Ochogwu 9-14 1-4 19, Hussein Elmaraghy 3-4 0-0 6, Team 48-89 5-12 112.

Richard J.Daley – 23   36 – 59

VU (2-1) – 56   56 – 112

Three-point goals: VU 11 (Williams 7, Bryson 3, Cooper). Rebounds: VU 54 (Cooper 11). Assists: VU 33 (L. Thomas 11). Steals: VU 16 (Akanmu 3). Blocked Shots: VU 4 (Williams 3). Turnovers: VU 16. Personal Fouls: VU 13. Fouled out: None.

VU Volleyball season ends at Midwest District Semifinals

VINCENNES, Ind. – The four-time defending Region 24 champion Vincennes University volleyball team had their season come to an abrupt end Saturday afternoon.

The Trailblazers fell in five sets to Jefferson College in the NJCAA Division I Midwest District A Semifinals 25-15, 23-25, 23-25, 25-12, 13-15.

Vincennes got the match started off to a hot start after a back-and-forth start to the opening set, VU was able to put their game into overdrive down the stretch and close out set one by outscoring the Vikings 12-2 to take set one 25-15 and gain the early 1-0 match advantage.

Set two was another back-and-forth battle, with VU holding a narrow 19-16 lead late in the set before the Vikings answered back with five straight points to take a 23-20 lead.

Vincennes continued to battle and looked to send the set into overtime but were unable to overcome the deficit as Jefferson College evened up the match 1-1 by taking set two going the distance 25-23.

The Trailblazers jumped out to another early lead in set three, opening an 11-6 advantage before the Vikings rallied back with seven straight points to take a 14-12 lead.

Jefferson College would grow their lead to 22-16 before the Blazers rallied back with six straight to even the set at 22-22.

Jefferson College was able to close out the third set, going the distance 25-23 to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

The Trailblazers had their backs against the wall in set four and looked to keep the season going with a series of scoring runs to help pull away late and take set four 25-12 to force a winner-take-all fifth set.

Set five saw the teams again trading side outs before Jefferson College looked to be in complete control at 13-8.

Vincennes was able to swing the momentum back with five straight points to even the score at 13-13 but were unable to get the lead back as the Vikings closed out the fifth set 15-13 and advance to the District Championships.

“The kids played their hearts out there this afternoon, what an incredible effort,” VUVB Head Coach Gary Sien said. “If the statistics are correct, we had big time numbers in kills, blocks and hitting percentage. Unfortunately, we did not score a couple of crucial points here and there to finish the sets and the match, especially in sets two and three.”

“Despite that, no one can take away their outstanding performance,” Sien added.

The Trailblazer offense was led by an outstanding game by sophomore Isadora Dias (Rio Grande de Norte, Brazil) who finished the night with 23 kills, four digs and two blocks.

Sophomore Elisa Dalla Pozza (Vincenza, Italy) filled up the stats sheet, recording 16 kills, six blocks, three set assist, two digs and one ace.

Freshman Paulina Fister (Tuszyn, Poland) closed out her freshman campaign with a double-double with 10 kills, 19 digs, one set assist and one ace.

Sophomore Laura Tavares (Merida, Venezuela) finished her day with nine kills, three blocks and one dig.

Freshman Martyna Sadowska (Pila, Poland) had a good game with six kills, five blocks, one dig and one set assist.

Sophomore Allison Czyzewski rounded out the VU offensive numbers with three kills, four blocks and one set assist.

Sophomore setter Libby Mehringer (Jasper, Ind.) distributed the ball to the Trailblazer hitters, leading VU with 30 set assists, six digs and one ace in the match.

Freshman Rylee Edwards (Fairfield, Ill.) split time with Mehringer at the setter position, ending her day with 21 set assists, five digs and two aces.

Sophomore libero Grace Flexter (Oblong, Ill.) controlled the Trailblazer back row defense with a team-high 25 digs and two set assists, while freshman Julianna Rettig closes out the Vincennes box score with 11 digs and one ace.

“I thought Isadora had a great hitting game in a near career match,” Sien said. “It is hard to stop her due to her length and reach. Paulina swung well and again she had a big block to hit around all match.”

“Our middles, Allison and Elisa, combined to hit over .500 percent with only one error,” Sien added. “Grace Paulina and Julianna covered the back row very well. When we pass, Libby and Rylee set an efficient offense.”

The Trailblazers season ends with a final record of 30-13, with the graduating VU sophomore class securing their second 30-win season, second Region Championship and closing out a final record of 62-20 in two seasons with Vincennes.

“Just a group of excellent people from great families,” Sien said of his graduating sophomores. “They are all motivated individuals and goal oriented. The future is very bright for each of the as they will have many opportunities after Vincennes University.”

“These seven, Dylan, Grace, Libby, Isadora, Allison, Elisa and Laura, have etched their names into two back-to-back Region 24 Championships, this responsibility now goes to the freshmen to come back and extend that run,” Sien added.

“Whether they continue to play volleyball or not, they will each get their degrees,” Sien said. “It will be exciting to see where they all end up.”

Other results from day one of the NJCAA Division I Midwest District A Tournament hosted by Vincennes University include Jefferson College winning over John A. Logan College 21-25, 21-25, 25-23, 25-23, 15-13. Iowa Western Community College winning over Lincoln Trail College 25-11, 25-12, 25-12 and Missouri State-West Plains winning over Iowa Western Community College 25-14, 25-18, 25-15.

Jefferson College advances to the Championship match of the Midwest District A Tournament, where they will face Missouri State-West Plains tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 9 at 11 a.m. eastern inside the Physical Education Complex.

BOX SCORE

Jefferson – 15    25    25    12    15

VUVB (30-13, 18-3) – 25   23   23   25   13

VINCENNES STATS

Grace Flexter – 25 digs, 2 set assists

Paulina Fister – 11 points, 1 ace, 10 kills, 19 digs, 1 set assist

Rylee Edwards – 2 points, 2 aces, 5 digs, 21 set assists

Julianna Rettig – 1 point, 1 ace, 11 digs

Laura Tavares – 10.5 points, 9 kills, 3 block assists, 1 dig

Isadora Dias – 24 points, 23 kills, 2 block assists, 4 digs

Allison Czyzewski – 5 points, 3 kills, 4 block assists, 1 set assist

Martyna Sadowska – 8.5 points, 6 kills, 5 block assists, 1 dig, 1 set assist

Elisa Dalla Pozza – 20 points, 1 ace, 16 kills, 6 block assists, 2 digs, 3 set assists

Libby Mehringer – 1 point, 1 ace, 6 digs, 30 set assists

UE falls to Murray State in four sets

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Josdarilee Caraballo recorded a career-high 12 kills while Angelica Gonzalez had her second-consecutive 20-kill performance on Friday with the University of Evansville volleyball team suffered a 3-1 loss to Murray State inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse.

Caraballo’s 12 kills passed her previous mark of four, which came last week at Bradley.  Gonzalez was just one shy of her career mark of 21 kills, which was set against Belmont on Thursday evening.  Ainoah Cruz picked up 22 digs while Kora Ruff had 13 digs and 54 assists.  Leading the way for the Racers was Ella Vogel with 13 kills.

Set 1 – UE 25, MSU 21

Evansville jumped out to a 3-1 lead and after Murray State tied it at 3-3, the Aces scored five in a row as AInoah Cruz opened the stretch with an ace.  Chloe Cline’s first kill of the match solidified a 10-4 edge.  The Racers cut the deficit to three at 10-7 when Cline’s second kill helped UE go back up by five.

Things got close in the middle portion of the set as the Racers closed to within two at 17-15 before a kill from Madisyn Steele and another ace by Cruz extended the lead back to 22-17.  MSU made another rally, cutting the deficit to a pair (23-21), but following a time out, Angelica Gonzalez recorded back-to-back kills to clinch the set.

Set 2 – MSU 25, UE 18

A pair of aces by Blakeley Freeman set the Aces up with a 4-1 lead while Carlotta Pascual registered four early kills to establish a 6-3 advantage.  The Racers slowly fought back, tying the set at 11-11 before taking their first lead at 14-13.  MSU went up by a pair before another kill from Pascual knotted the score at 18-18.  Following a time out, Murray State went on a roll, scoring seven in a row to complete the set and tie the match.

Set 3 – MSU 25, UE 16

Murray State scored the first two points while the Aces battled back to tie it up at 6-6 on a kill by Gonzalez.  MSU retook the lead, extending it to four points at 13-9 and eventually a 19-10 score.  They would take the set by a 25-16 final while opening up a 2-1 match lead.

Set 4 – MSU 25, UE 22

Josdarilee Caraballo notched a kill and Cruz followed with an ace that put UE in front by score of 6-4.  The Aces continued to hold the advantage until the Racers battled back to take a 14-13 edge.  Gonzalez posted a kill that tied the score at 18-18, however, the Racers wrestled away a 20-18 edge before going up 24-20.

Down to their final point, UE rallied with a pair of Caraballo kills to force the Racers to use their final time out.  Out of the break, MSU converted the winning kill.  Next weekend, UE travels to Valparaiso and UIC.

Davila named to OVC All-Newcomer team

Story Links: Complete List of OVC Men’s Soccer Award Winners

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Soccer freshman forward David Davila was named to the Ohio Valley Conference All-Newcomer team. Davila is the first Screaming Eagle to be named OVC All-Newcomer.

Davila tied for the lead in scoring during his first season with USI, posting eight points on three goals and two assists. He led USI during the OVC portion of the schedule, recording five of his eight points on two goals and one assist in 10 contests. The freshman forward tied for 10^th in goals scored during the OVC campaign.

ALL-NEWCOMER TEAM
NAME, SCHOOL                                POS.   YR.   HOMETOWN
Morgan Worsfold-Gregg, HCU            MF      Fr.     London, England
Theo Butterworth, HCU                       D        Fr.      Lancaster, England
Aidan Morrison, Liberty                       MF      Fr.      Katy, Texas
John Gates, Lindenwood                    MF      Sr.     St. Louis, Mo.
Rob Gjelaj, SIUE                                GK      Sr.      Romeo, Mich.
Yasha Schaerer, SIUE                        MF      So.     Zurich, Switzerland
Carles Zomeno, SIUE                         MF      Jr.      Valencia, Spain
David Davila, Southern Indiana       F         Fr.     Elkhart, Ind.
Rochaine Baker, UIW                         D         Jr.      Kingston, Jamaica
Giovanni Padilla, UIW                        D         Fr.      New Braunfels, Texas
Ryan Wrobleski, WIU                         D         Fr.      Sussex, Wis.

Men’s basketball opens home schedule on Saturday

Aces face Brescia at 1 p.m. 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – On Saturday, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team opens its home slate with a contest against Brescia.  ESPN+ and the Purple Aces Radio Network will have the broadcast of the 1 p.m. CT contest from the Ford Center.

Last Time Out

– Taking on one of the top mid-major programs over the last handful of seasons, the Purple Aces dropped the season opener to North Texas by a final of 80-63

– Trailing by as many as 29 points, UE stormed back to get within 12 points in the second half, however, the deficit was too much to overcome

– Gabriel Pozzato led all players with 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting while Tanner Cuff finished the evening with 11 points

– Cuff added 5 boards and 4 assists

Best Debut?

– In his first official game for the Purple Aces, Gabriel Pozzato turned heads with a 28-point outing at North Texas

– It was the top freshman/newcomer debut in Evansville’s Division I history and was the highest total by a freshman in the MVC in at least the last 20 seasons

– Prior to his effort, the top program debut in the DI era came from Marty Simmons; on 12/1/86, Simmons scored 27 points against Montana State

– Interesting enough – Scott Haffner made his debut that night and finished with 26; DeAndre Williams made his debut in 2019 and scored 26 versus Ball State

– Pozzato converted 10 of his 16 shot attempts while adding three triples, three boards and a block

– In the exhibition game against Tiffin, Pozzato recorded 22 points

Solid Start   

– Playing a career-high 34:41, Tanner Cuff scored 11 points in Tuesday’s season opener at North Texas

– Cuff hit 4 of his 6 attempts while adding 5 boards and 4 assists

– He saw action in all 35 games last season and made two starts, but his role is set to grow even more heading into the upcoming campaign

– In his first season with the Purple Aces, Cuff averaged 7.4 points and 4.2 rebounds per game

Returning Experience

– Cam Haffner will be depended on for his experience following his first two collegiate seasons

– In his first season at UE in 2023-24, Haffner finished with 4.7 points and 1.8 rebounds per game while making 16 starts and seeing time in all 35 contests

– Haffner averaged 7.6 PPG in the final five games of the regular season while scoring 11 points on two occasions

– The season opener at UNT saw him play a career-high 34:19 while scoring 6 points

Scouting the Opposition

– Brescia opened its season on Oct. 31 with an 83-77 loss to Fisk

– Linkin Lockhart led the way for the Bearcats with 30 points on 10-of-19 shooting while Damian Garcia added 17 points

– Garcia paced Brescia with 8 rebounds while recording a pair of assists

– Last season, Brescia was 8-15 overall while going 6-12 in conference play

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