Boxscore

Just when the University of Evansville appeared ready to take control in the second half Saturday night at Roberts Stadium, Kentucky Wesleyan hit big shots.  And the result was a 55-52 men's basketball exhibition game victory for the Panthers in front of an Evansville Homecoming crowd of 5,765.

Down by as many as 13 points, the Aces charged back in the second half and took the lead twice, on a driving layup by Kavon Lacey with 5:50 to play and a three-pointer by Colt Ryan two minutes later.  But that's when former Indiana State standout Marico Stinson delivered a three-pointer and two free throws to quickly put the Panthers up 51-46.  Evansville finally took the KWC lead down to one with 24 seconds to go on Bryan Bouchie's three-point play.  Two free throws by the Panthers' Maros Zuffa made it 55-52 with 11 seconds to go, and James Haarsma's three-pointer in the final seconds that would have tied the game missed to give the Panthers the victory.

"Wesleyan is very well coached and well set up, and they just outplayed us," said UE coach Marty Simmons. "There is no doubt we will learn a lot from this game.  Our decision making has to improve, and I know it will as our guys gain experience.  We're going to be a much better team."

Bouchie came off the bench to lead the Aces with 16 points.  Freshman guard Troy Taylor added six points, seven assists and 13 rebounds, and played a team-high 38 minutes.  But the Panthers hit 19 of 22 free throws compared to 17 of 28 for the Aces, and connected on six of 22 three-point attempts while Evansville hit just one of nine.  Stinson led all scorers with 19 points, and also grabbed nine rebounds.  Chris Williams added 13 points and seven rebounds, and Desmond Stephens added 10 points and six rebounds for KWC.

Evansville plays its regular season opener next Saturday at Roberts Stadium against Oakland City University at 7:05.