Boxscore

It's final exam week at the University of Evansville, and while the Purple Aces may not have earned an A+ Saturday night, they passed one big test.

Evansville held off NCAA Division III Hanover College Saturday night at Roberts Stadium, 57-44, improving the Aces' record to 4-5.  Hanover is now 6-3.  Evansville won its third straight home game, and plays again Saturday against Norfolk State at UE's Roberts Stadium, beginning at 2:05 CST.

Evansville finally put away the Panthers in the second half, expanding a 28-23 halftime lead to 33-23, and eventually to 51-37 in the final eight minutes.  

"Hanover simply outplayed us at times, especially early on," said UE coach Marty Simmons.  "I wasn't pleased with our effort when Hanover was beating us to loose balls.  But we did a better job in the second half."

Jason Holsinger and Nate Garner scored 11 points each for Evansville, and Pieter van Tongeren added seven points and 13 rebounds.  Marc O'Leary of Hanover led all scorers with 12 points.  Evansville won the game with a higher field goal percentage, hitting 24 of 47 shots for 51 percent compared to the Panthers hitting 16 of 43 shots for 37 percent.