The University of Evansville men’s and women’s swimming and diving team opened the spring half of the season at conference rival Missouri State.

As a squad the Aces scored 100 team points on the women’s side and 82 on the men’s.

With two second place finishes, Maya Cunningham finished the 200-yard IM in 2:12.57, while taking down the 100-yard butterfly in 1:00.99.

In the distance swims Ashton Adams took third place in two events, with a 5:29.89 500-yard freestyle and a 11:11.42 1000-yard freestyle.

Austin Smith took second place in the 1000-yard freestyle at 10:12.14, while also being the second leg of the 200-yard freestyle relay.

Eli James captured third place in the 50-yard freestyle at 22.39 pace, while also adding a second place finish in the 100 yard breaststroke (59.45).

On the diving side, Natalie Gerard led the way with a pair of second place finishes, marking a 228.52 1-meter score and a 238.35 3-meter score.

The Purple Aces are back in action with a men’s only meet on Jan. 17 against Ball State hosted at Wyttenbach Pool, while both squads will compete on Jan. 18 at Saint Louis.

Aces continue on the road at Indiana State on Wednesday

Despite falling into an early hole, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team rallied back twice, but Loyola’s offense was too much to handle, shooting 70.5% on their way to a 78-44 win over the Purple Aces on Saturday inside Gentile Arena.

Sam Cunliffe recorded a team-high 11 points with K.J. Riley going 3-for-4 from the field on his way to seven points.  Three players recorded six tallies for Evansville (9-8, 0-4 MVC).

“We were right there in the middle of the first half.  When things are not going quite right, it is tough for our guys to get it going,” UE interim coach Bennie Seltzer said.  “When a team shoots 75% in the first half and 70% for the game, it will be hard to overcome.  We are going to work on some things and change some stuff on defense moving forward.”

In the first half, Loyola (11-6, 3-1 MVC) shot an unbelievable 75%, hitting 18 of their 24 shots to lead by a 43-24 margin at the break.  After the Ramblers jumped out to a 7-2 lead, the Aces quickly fought back within one with a pair of John Hall free throws making it a 7-6 game.  After Loyola pushed its lead back out to five points at 14-9, Noah Frederking changed the complexion of the game.

The junior from Okawville, Ill. drained back-to-back triples to give Evansville its first lead at 15-14.  Loyola responded with an 11-0 run over a span of six minutes to open up their first double digit lead at 25-15.  UE missed four shots in a row while turning it over four times.  Cunliffe got the Aces back on track with a field goal at the 6:59 mark.Evansville fought back within eight points on another Cunliffe field goal with 4:02 remaining, making it a 30-22 deficit, but the Ramblers finished the half on fire, going on a 13-0 run to take the 43-24 halftime lead.  Cunliffe had nine points in the half.  Points in the paint were a huge difference as Evansville was outscored by a 30-4 margin in the opening 20 minutes.

Over the opening five minutes of the second half, the Aces were able to cut into the deficit, going on a 9-4 run to get within 14.  K.J. Riley had seven of the first nine UE points.  Included in that was his first 3-pointer since Dec. 4 against Western Illinois.

Loyola overcame the stretch and was able to push the lead back over 20 points.  An 18-4 run saw the Ramblers take a 65-37 lead with 8:27 left in the game.  Two minutes later, the lead would reach 69-39 on a pair of free throws.  From there, the Ramblers held strong and finished the day with a 78-44 win.

Pacing Loyola was Marquise Kennedy, who totaled 20 points while connecting on eight of his nine attempts.  Aher Uguak recorded 12 points while Cameron Krutwig scored 11.  Evansville finished the game shooting 39.1%.

 

UE remains on the road this week, traveling to Indiana State on Wednesday evening for a 6 p.m. CT game at the Hulman Center.

The Indiana University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams were both defeated by top-5 nationally ranked teams at the Donald B. Canham Natatorium on Saturday afternoon.

TEAM SCORES

Men

No. 3 Michigan 160, No. 5 Indiana 140

Women

No. 5 Michigan 186, No. 15 Indiana 114
HOOSIER WINNERS

MEN

Bruno Blaskovic – 100 freestyle (43.73); 400 freestyle relay (2:56.00)

Brendan Burns – 200 butterfly (1:44.12); 400 freestyle relay (2:56.00)

Gabriel Fantoni – 200 backstroke (1:45.40);

Jack Franzman – 400 freestyle relay (2:56.00)

Mory Gould – 1-meter diving (339.75); 3-meter diving (422.17)

Mohamed Samy – 200 freestyle (1:35.57); 400 freestyle relay (2:56.00)

WOMEN

Cora Dupre – 200 freestyle (1:48.40);

Bailey Kovac – 200 backstroke (1:59.15)

Noelle Peplowski – 100 breaststroke (1:00.32); 200 breaststroke (2:13.32)

NOTABLES

• Gould established a new career-best score in the 3-meter dive with a mark if 422.17. He tabbed victories in both diving events, while hitting NCAA Zones Qualifying scores in both events.
• Indiana totaled 12 combined individual event victories, with multi-event victories coming from Gould, Peplowski, and Samy. Eight events resulted in NCAA B cut times, while six dives notched NCAA Zones Qualifying scores.
• The Hoosier loss to the Wolverines on the men’s side marked the first since dropping a 176-118 on Jan. 16, 2016. Indiana had won the previous four meets.

 NCAA CUTS

A: None.

B: Zane Backes (100 breast, 54.26); Bruno Blaskovic (100 free, 43.73); Brendan Burns (100 fly, 47.00; 200 fly, 1:44.12); Noelle Peplowski (100 breast, 1:00.32; 200 breast, 2:13.32); Mohamed Samy (200 free, 1:35.57; 200IM, 1:46.54)

NCAA Zones Qualifying Scores

1-Meter: Mory Gould (339.75); Seamus Scotty (301.49); Alyssa Wang (266.78); Taylor Carter (266.77); Kayla Luarde (264.29)

3-Meter: Mory Gould (422.17)

 UP NEXT

The Indiana Hoosier swimming and diving teams will host archrival Purdue on Jan. 25 at the Counsilman Billingsley Aquatic Center in Bloomington, Ind.