Boxscore

With four players scoring in double digits and two with double-doubles, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team (6-3) put up a convincing 84-63 victory over Tennessee-Martin (1-8) on Saturday night at Roberts Stadium.

The win marks the fourth straight season that UE has clinched a winning non-conference record.

Sophomore James Haarsma put together his fourth double-double of the season and second in a row with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Freshman Troy Taylor was just shy of a triple-double with 10 rebounds, 10 assists and seven points. Sophomore Bryan Bouchie put in 18 points while sophomore Denver Holmes and freshman Colt Ryan added 12 points each.

As a team, the Aces won the contest on the boards with 49 rebounds, including 36 defensive boards, compared to UTM’s 30.  UE shot 62.5 percent in the second half, hitting 15 of 24 shots on the way to outscoring the Skyhawks 54-33 in the final 20 minutes.

"We were much more aggressive in the second half," said Coach Marty Simmons.  "We got points from a lot of people tonight.  It was good to see Bryan (Bouchie) come off the bench and do so well, and this is the second straight game in which Troy Taylor has helped us at both ends of the court.  And James (Haarsma) was rock solid tonight.  He's playing very well right now." 

Although the Aces grabbed an early lead, the Skyhawks were able to take advantage of UE’s 12-of-19 shooting from the free throw line in the first half to lead 17-14. However, four quick points from Haarsma put the Aces ahead 22-19 before a 9-0 run from UTM gave the Skyhawks a 28-22 advantage behind the shooting of junior forward Benzor Simmons, who scored 19 points in the first half and finished the night with 35. A strong defensive effort late in the half put the momentum back in UE’s corner to allow the Aces to end the half with an 8-2 rally and tie it at 30.

The Aces came out aggressively in the second half and quickly jumped ahead with a 10-1 run to go up 40-31. Evansville's defensive pressure held UTM without a field goal until the 13:40 mark, and the Aces built a commanding 58-43 lead with 7:45 remaining.  UE led by as many as 24 in the final two minutes at 80-56

Evansville will have a quick turnaround, as the team travels to Clarksville, Tenn., to take on Austin Peay Tuesday at 7:00.