Second-half rally pushes MTSU past UE
Aces fall by a final of 80-63
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Four days after posting the top effort of his University of Evansville career, Cam Haffner accomplished the feat once again in Wednesday’s road game at Middle Tennessee State. Haffner scored 16 points in the Purple Aces’ 80-63 loss to the Blue Raiders, besting his 14-point effort on Saturday versus Brescia.
Haffner was 7-of-12 from the field on his way to the 16-point game. Just behind him was Tanner Cuff who tallied 15 points and a team-high 7 boards.
“It was a tale of two halves and we just did not do enough to get it done. If we take care of business in the first half and not let them get the momentum that they did, it would have been a different game,” UE head men’s basketball coach David Ragland stated. “We need to be more disciplined and get some things fixed.”
Gabriel Pozzato knocked down a triple to give the Aces a 5-0 lead while Tanner Cuff added a field goal to cement a 7-2 edge in the opening three minutes. The Blue Raiders fought back to tie the game at 9-9 before taking their first lead of 13-11 at the 14:08 mark. The lead was short-lived as Cam Haffner drilled a triple to put the Aces right back in front on the ensuing possession. A competitive half saw the teams swap the lead on seven occasions.
Middle Tennessee State came back to go up 19-15 while Pozzato put his team right back on top. As the half approached the midway point, he connected on his second triple to give Evansville a 20-19 lead. The teams swapped the lead once again before Tanner Cuff hit UE’s fourth triple of the period to cement a 25-21 advantage.
Evansville continued to hold the lead in the final minutes with Cuff hitting his fourth bucket of the game to put the Aces in front at 38-34 with 1:18 left before the break. The Blue Raiders countered once again, completing the half on a 7-0 run to take a 41-38 halftime lead. After tying it up in the final seconds, a foul on a 3-point attempt sent MTSU to the line where they converted all three attempts to lead by three.
Out of the break, Middle Tennessee State continued the run as a bucket on the opening possession gave them their largest lead of five points. Tayshawn Comer connected on his second field goal to end the stretch. It was a temporary halt to the momentum as the Blue Raiders kept the pressure on. Ten in a row following Comer’s basket extended the lead to 53-40 at the 15:52 mark. In total, the run for MTSU saw them outscore UE by a 19-2 margin.
Josh Hughes got UE back on the board, but the Blue Raiders proved to be too much. After leading by as many as 19 in the second half (72-53), they took the game by a final score of 80-63. The difference in the contest was the run by MTSU to finish the first half and open the second period. Their 19-2 stretch was the difference as the MTSU lead remained in double figures for the remainder of the second half.
In the first half, UE shot 41.9%, but the Blue Raider defense held the Aces to just 26.7% shooting in the final stanza to finish the game at 34.4%. MTSU shot an even 50% on the night while finishing with a 47-29 edge on the boards. They were led by Essam Mostafa’s double-double as he tallied 18 points and 10 caroms.
Joining Haffner and Cuff in double figures was Pozzato. He totaled 11 while Tayshawn Comer finished with eight. UE returns home on Saturday for a 1 p.m. game against Radford.
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