Aces and Shockers to square off on Tuesday evening

  Military Appreciation Night will take place on Tuesday evening when the University of Evansville men’s basketball team plays host to Wichita State at 8 p.m. inside the Ford Center.

All current and former military personnel receive two free tickets to the game with their military ID.  Tuesday’s contest against the Shockers will hold a special place in the heart of Solomon Hainna following his military service.  Hainna served in the Air Force for five years before embarking on his college basketball career; coincidentally, his first Division I game against Louisville took place on Veteran’s Day.

Tuesday’s game will mark the 100th contest at the Ford Center for the Aces.  In the first 99 games, UE has posted a record of 72-27, a .727 winning percentage.  Evansville opened the arena with a thrilling 80-77 overtime win against defending National Finalist Butler and has won three games against seven ranked opponents at the facility.

A late rally on Saturday saw Southern Illinois come away from the Ford Center with a 73-61 win over the Aces.  For the second game in a row, Ryan Taylor and Jaylon Brown registered 19 points apiece; over the last two games, the duo has recorded 76 of the Aces’ 112 total points, 67.9% of the offense.  David Howard had another steady game, finishing with 6 points and 6 rebounds; he has averaged 8.0 rebounds over the last two contests.  Dru Smith added a pair of triples against the Salukis on Saturday; in three games since his return from injury, Smith has hit 4 of his 10 attempts from outside.

Senior David Howard has put together two of his top games at UE over the last week against Missouri State and Southern Illinois.  He fell just shy of the first double-double of his career, tallying a career-best 10 rebounds and 8 points against the Bears; he followed that up with a 6-point, 6-rebound game against the Salukis.  Howard leads the way on the boards for the Aces with 5.1 per game; he has averaged 7.3 over the last three contests.

Preseason Missouri Valley Conference favorite Wichita State enters Tuesday’s meeting with an overall mark of 15-4 and a 5-1 league record.  The Shockers saw a 6-game win streak halted on Saturday night, dropping a 76-62 game at Illinois State.  Markis McDuffie is one of three WSU players to average double figures, standing at 12-5 points per game.  Just behind him is Darral Willis Jr., who checks in with 12.1 points and a team-best 6.2 boards; Landry Shamet is averaging 10.6 PPG.  Willis and Shamet paced the Shockers on Saturday against the Redbirds, scoring 14 points apiece.

Winning the last seven meetings against the Aces, the Shockers own a 29-16 edge in the overall series.  Evansville owns an 11-10 advantage in home games, but WSU has defended its home court against UE, going 17-5 in 22 meetings in Wichita.

Despite getting a career-high 30 points from senior guard Tanner Marcum (New Albany, Indiana), University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball could not hang on to a late lead as No. 4 Bellarmine University handed the Screaming Eagles an 88-83 setback in a battle for first place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division Monday evening at the Physical Activities Center.

USI (14-3, 6-1 GLVC) led 74-71 with just over four minutes to play when the Knights went on a decisive 9-0 run to take a six-point lead with less two minutes on the clock.

The Eagles trailed 82-76 with less than a minute to play and 84-78 with 45 seconds to play. Marcum hit 3-of-4 free throws in the next 21 seconds to cut USI’s deficit to just three points; then scored a jumper following a Bellarmine turnover to get the Eagles to within one (84-83) with 21 seconds remaining.

USI had a chance to tie the game with 14 seconds left following a pair of Bellarmine free throws, but Marcum, who was heavily guarded, could not get a shot off as USI coughed the ball up with less than five seconds on the clock. Senior guard Kelsey Adwell hit two free throws with less than a second to play to ensure the victory for the Knights.

Marcum sparked the Eagles throughout a contest that featured five ties and eight lead changes. She had 11 points in the opening period as USI overcame a 5-0 deficit to build a 17-9 lead with just over a minute to play in the period.

Bellarmine (15-1, 7-0 GLVC), however, scored seven straight points to get to within one heading into the second frame. USI led by four with just under seven minutes to play in the second quarter, but a 10-0 Bellarmine run put the Eagles in a six-point hole with four minutes to play in the half.

Junior guard Randa Harshbarger (Philo, Illinois) hit a pair of buckets as USI closed the gap to just two; but the Eagles failed to score for the final 2:40 of the half as Bellarmine took a 32-28 lead into the break. Harshbarger’s three-pointer two minutes into the third quarter tied the contest at 36, while back-to-back layups by senior forward Hannah Wascher (Rantoul, Illinois) put USI up 40-36.

USI led by as many as five points in the third quarter and 59-57 heading into the final period. The two teams traded buckets early in the final quarter, but a three-pointer by junior guard/forward Kaydie Grooms (Marshall, Illinois) staked USI its largest lead of the period (68-64) with just under eight to play.

In addition to Marcum’s 30 points and six rebounds, USI also got 15 points and three assists from Harshbarger as well as 13 points, seven rebounds and three blocks from Wascher. Grooms added 13 points, six rebounds and two blocks before fouling out with just under two minutes to play.

Junior forward Morgan Dahlstrom (Grayslake, Illinois) also added eight points, nine rebounds, and two blocks for the Eagles, who shot 50.8 percent (31-61) from the field and out-rebounded the Knights, 39-28.

Senior guard Whitney Hartlage had 17 points and four steals to pace the Knights, who also shot 50.0 percent (30-60) from the field.

USI returns to action Thursday when it hosts the University of Wisconsin-Parkside at the PAC.

Newspaper Box Score

Bellarmine vs Southern Indiana

01/16/17 5:30 p.m. at Evansville, IN (PAC)

BELLARMINE 88, SOUTHERN INDIANA 83

BELLARMINE (15-1, 7-0 GLVC)

Hartlage, Whitney 5-6 4-4 17; Curry, Destony 6-12 1-3 14; Merriweather, Raven 4-13 5-5 13; Galvin, Sarah 5-8 2-3 12; Berry, Mikayla 3-5 3-4 11; Bowers, Beth 3-10 1-4 7; Mayhaus, Ally 2-2 2-2 6; Adwell, Kelsey 2-4 2-2 6; Sandusky, Serena 0-0 2-2 2; Tibbs, Liza 0-0 0-0 0; Downey, Katie 0-0 0-0 0; Bewley, Hannah 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-60 22-29 88.

SOUTHERN INDIANA (14-3, 6-1 GLVC)

Marcum, Tanner 9-16 11-12 30; Harshbarger, Randa 5-9 4-5 15; Grooms, Kaydie 6-11 0-0 13; Wascher, Hannah 6-9 1-2 13; Dahlstrom, Morgan 3-9 2-2 8; Brewer, Tasia 2-5 0-0 4; Eschweiler, Kacy 0-1 0-0 0; Savickaite, Ruta 0-1 0-0 0; Sherwood, Morgan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-61 18-21 83.

Bellarmine………………..   16   16   25   31  -   88

Southern Indiana…………..   17   11   31   24  -   83

3-point goals—Bellarmine 6-14 (Hartlage, Whitney 3-4; Berry, Mikayla 2-4; Curry, Destony 1-2; Bowers, Beth 0-1; Merriweather, Raven 0-3), Southern Indiana 3-10 (Harshbarger, Randa 1-2; Grooms, Kaydie 1-4; Marcum, Tanner 1-1; Brewer, Tasia 0-2; Eschweiler, Kacy 0-1).

Fouled out—Bellarmine-None, Southern Indiana-Grooms, Kaydie.

Rebounds—Bellarmine 28 (Mayhaus, Ally 6), Southern Indiana 39 (Dahlstrom, Morgan 9).

Assists—Bellarmine 15 (Merriweather, Raven 4), Southern Indiana 13 (Harshbarger, Randa 3; Marcum, Tanner 3).

Total fouls—Bellarmine 18, Southern Indiana 23.

Technical fouls—Bellarmine-None, Southern Indiana-None.

A—2600

Bellarmine is ranked 4th WBCA/9th D2SIDA.