Boxscore

After a nine-day break, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team brushed off the dust on Thursday night as the Purple Aces (5-3) put together a 75-58 victory over Georgia Southern (3-9) at Roberts Stadium.

Sophomore James Haarsma had a double-double with a career-high 26 points, including 12 from the free throw line, and 10 rebounds. Freshman Colt Ryan added 22 points, going 8-for-11 from the floor and 3-for-4 from behind the arc. Junior center Clint Hopf dropped in nine points and blocked two shots in his first start of the season, while freshman Troy Taylor collected seven points and five assists.

"James and Colt played very well, and we got some good contributions from other people, too," said Coach Marty Simmons.  "James got to the free throw line 16 times.  That shows a lot of effort.  And I thought Troy Taylor helped set the tone on offense for us with his decision making.  He didn't force things.  He just kept us steady."

UE was playing for the first time without floor general Kavon Lacey, who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery Tuesday.  Freshman Ned Cox made his first collegiate start in Lacey's place, and Taylor came off the bench to play 26 minutes.  The Aces put together a 6-3 run in the final minute of the first half, capped by a Ryan three pointer, to go into the break up by eight at 36-28.  But the Eagles responded with a 12-4 rally that included three-point shots on four straight trips down the floor to tie the game at 40. Momentum pulled back toward the home team after a full-court pass to Haarsma for two points started a 13-2 run for a 53-42 lead. GSU never got closer than six points the rest of the way.

Evansville shot a season-high 58 percent, hitting 25 of 43 shots, while Georgia Southern connected on 21 of 50 shots for 42 percent.  The big difference came at the free throw line, where UE hit 21 of 32 shots, compared to 8-for-16 free throw shooting by GSU.

UE returns home Saturday night to play Tennessee-Martin at 7:05.  A victory will clinch a winning non-conference season for the fourth consecutive year.