Boxscore
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Evansville seniors Jason Holsinger and Shy Ely secured the victory on both the offensive and defensive ends Saturday night, as the Aces defeated the Southern Illinois Salukis 60-54 in front of 7,492 raucous Roberts Stadium fans.
Holsinger hit a driving layup with 42 seconds remaining to put the Aces ahead 56-51, and then sunk a pair of free throws with 22 seconds left to put Evansville ahead 58-54 following a Justin Bocot three-pointer for the Salukis. On the next possession, Ely grabbed a defensive rebound and made a pair of free throws to seal the victory with seven seconds to go. With the win, Evansville moves into sole possession of fifth place and is only one game out of second in the highly competitive Missouri Valley Conference.
The Aces (14-7, 6-5) return to the road Wednesday to play Missouri State.
In the first half, Evansville used an 11-2 run midway through the first half to pull out to an eight point lead at 22-14 but Southern Illinois (10-12, 5-6) responded with a 15-2 run to end the half, capped by a three point shot at the buzzer by Carlton Fay, to enter the half leading 27-24.
In the second half, Ely exploded offensively, showing why he is the MVC’s leading scorer. The senior forward scored 18 of his game-high 22 in second half, while also totaling six rebounds for the game as Evansville outscored Southern Illinois 36-27 in the final 20 minutes. Holsinger joined his teammate in double figures with 13, while also dishing out eight assists.
"Our big emphasis going into this game was getting to loose balls and not letting them get offensive rebounds, because they had more of those hustle plays than we did the first time we played (a 70-63 SIU win at Carbondale Jan. 10)," Ely said.
Added Holsinger, "I thought we were pretty locked in defensively tonight. We did a better job than we did at their place."
UE held the Salukis to 37.5 percent shooting (18-for-48) while the Aces hit 20 of 44 shots for 45.5 percent.
Three Salukis finished the game in double figures. Bocot led the way with 12, Tony Boyle finished with 11 points and a game high nine rebounds and Kevin Dillard tossed in ten for Southern Illinois.
