Boxscore
The University of Evansville's return to the homecourt was a success from the start Wednesday night. The Aces jumped out to a 29-12 halftime lead and romped past the Ivy League Princeton Tigers, 53-32. It was Evansville's first home game following three on the road.
The 32 points were the fewest allowed at Roberts Stadium by the Aces since the 1962-63 season, when they beat Kentucky Wesleyan 23-19 in a slowdown game before the shot clock was part of the NCAA rules. The 32 points were the fewest allowed by Evansville overall since the Aces beat Northwestern 48-26 in the 1999 Hoop & Quill Classic at St. Charles, Mo.
Evansville is now 2-4 overall, and returns home Saturday to face defending Ohio Valley Conference champion Austin Peay at 7:05, following the UE women's game against Ball State at 5:00. Princeton is 2-6.
The Aces were down 6-5 on Zach Finley's field goal with 13:28 to play in the first half, but it was 22-6 in Evansville's favor before Princeton scored again. Evansville's 17-0 run included six points by Shy Ely, two three-pointers from Jason Holsinger, one from Kavon Lacey and a layup by Pieter van Tongeren. After taking a 29-12 lead at halftime, UE went up by 20 at 37-17 midway through the first half, and led by as many as 23 at 51-28.
"Princeton's offense is not easy to emulate during practice," said UE Coach Marty Simmons. "Our guys made a quick adjustment in the first half. They communicated well and worked hard, and our guys were rewarded for their effort and their preparation."
Added Princeton coach Sydney Johnson, also in his first year, "Coach Simmons' kids played hard, and they dictated us physically. We got pushed off our cuts and our posts. We knew we would face a team that is well coached."
This was the first game ever between Princeton and Evansville, and the first game for UE against an Ivy League team since the Aces beat Pennsylvania in the 1997 San Juan Shootout. Ely led the balanced Evansville attack with 12 points, Holsinger added 11, van Tongeren scored nine and Jay Couisnard scored eight. Evansville shot a season-high 51 percent (22 for 43) and held the Tigers to 33 percent shooting (13 for 39).
