Boxscore
Jason Holsinger's way-above-average day started with him receiving the Prairie Farms/Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Week award. It ended with him scoring a career-high 31 points Wednesday night in the University of Evansville's sixth consecutive homecourt victory, 80-76 over Eastern Illinois. The Aces are now 6-1 heading into Saturday's 7:05 clash at Roberts Stadium against 5-2 Western Kentucky, winner of four in a row.
Not even a twisted ankle that sent Holsinger to the sidelines for several minutes in the first half could keep the senior guard with the 3.88 grade point average from topping his previous high of 29 points.
"I've played the game long enough to know that you just get it taped up, and you're good to go again," explained Holsinger, whose boxscore line included 9-for-21 shooting, including 6-for-12 from three-point range, and 7-for-7 free throw shooting. "The last couple games, I've hit some shots early, and as a shooter that always makes you feel good. But all that really matters is a 'W' at the end of 40 minutes."
In fact, Holsinger scored the first eight points of the game and the Aces quickly jumped ahead 12-2. They were up by as many as 14 points late in the first half, 40-26, but Eastern Illinois (2-6) turned a 12-point Evansville lead early in the second half at 53-41 into a mere two-point lead at 53-51 with 14:04 remaining. The Panthers came within three points on seven occasions in the final 11 minutes, but the Aces withstood every charge and finally put the game away in the final 20 seconds on two free throws from Holsinger and two from Shy Ely despite 27 points from EIU's T.J. Marion and 26 from Romain Martin.
"It's not like we didn't know Eastern Illinois could score," said UE coach Marty Simmons. "They are a difficult team to defend. We were fortunate to come out on top."
Ely followed Holsinger with 15 points, and freshman James Haarsma had another solid game off the bench with 10 points and nine rebounds. For the seventh time in seven games, the Aces shot more free throws than the opposition, hitting 23 of 33 while Eastern Illinois hit 11 of 15.
