UE Defeats Oakland City In Exhibition Opener

UE finishes with an 81-56 victory

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Four players finished in double figures to lead the University of Evansville men’s basketball team to an 81-56 victory over Oakland City in exhibition action inside the Ford Center.

Leading the Purple Aces was Antoine Smith Jr. with a game-high 17 points.  He converted six of his seven field goal tries and all four 3-point attempts.  Marvin Coleman II scored 12 points while Kenny Strawbridge Jr. and Blaise Beauchamp recorded 10 apiece.  Strawbridge and Coleman led UE with eight rebounds.

“The whole process has been fun – we have been doing this with good people.  We have a good coaching staff and a good group of players,” UE head men’s basketball coach David Ragland explained following the victory.  “We played connected and I did not think there were many moments where we were disconnected. It is a team sport – everything we need to do must be done together.”

Evansville finished the game shooting 47.8% from the field and 52.9% in the second half.  Nine triples found the bottom of the net with Smith picking up four.  The Aces outrebounded the Mighty Oaks by a 44-35 margin with 12 caroms coming on the offensive end.

Both teams struggled to find their offense in the early moments with both turning the ball over on three occasions in the opening three minutes.  Kenny Strawbridge Jr. got the Aces on the board after Oakland City scored the opening basket.  UE started the game 1-of-7 from the field before knocking down five of its next six attempts to go up 14-2.

Marvin Coleman II hit a layup and triple while Antoine Smith Jr. also scored from outside.  Strawbridge added his second bucket to make it a 16-2 game.  Gabe Spinelli excited the crowd with a dunk while Blaise Beauchamp drained the third 3-pointer of the night to make it a 21-3 game with 11:08 remaining in the half.

The Mighty Oaks regrouped and would stabilize the deficit over the final minutes of the half as they would go to the break trailing 36-20.  Strawbridge led the Aces with 8 points and 7 rebounds in the opening period.  OCU came out of the break on a run, outscoring UE by a 6-2 margin to get within 12 at 38-26.

Evansville countered with a 13-0 run to open up its largest lead of the game.  Gage Bobe, Beauchamp and Smith each hit triples in the run that made it a 51-26 game at the 14:50 mark.  Sekou Kalle took over late in the game, contributing three Aces baskets in a row before Coleman drained another triple to make it a 72-45 contest inside the 4-minute mark.  UE would go on to finish with the 81-56 triumph.

“We have been practicing against each other for nearly a month so it felt good to play against another opponent,” Antoine Smith Jr. said.  “Attacking the boards has been a big emphasis for us and will continue to be that way.”

Tyquez Priester led Oakland City with 16 points while DJ Redding picked up a game-high 10 rebounds.  On Wednesday, UE welcomes Huntington University in the second and final exhibition game.  The tip is set for 7 p.m. at the Ford Center.