Boxscore 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- A 15-point deficit early in the game eventually became a 14-point victory Saturday afternoon for the University of Evansville.  

The Purple Aces' 75-61 ESPNU BracketBusters win over Miami (Ohio) in front of a noisy crowd of 6,207 at Roberts Stadium guaranteed Evansville's first winning season since 2000.  It also produced a post-game serenade of 'Happy Birthday' from his players for second-year head coach Marty Simmons on his 44th birthday.

The win sends Evansville into its final regular season home game Wednesday against Bradley with a 16-11 record.

"Coach Simmons has done a great job of teaching us the history of this program," said senior forward Shy Ely.  "We've won championships before, and we'll win championships again.  It feels good to be part of the turnaround of this program."

There was also a mighty big turnaround Saturday afternoon.  Miami (15-10) jumped ahead 23-8 after hitting 11 of its first 14 shots before the Aces started a long comeback that cut the halftime deficit to five at 40-35.  The RedHawks still led 49-44 early in the second half before Jason Holsinger's three-point play and Shy Ely's put-back dunk on a missed shot by Kaylon Williams tied the score.  Williams ended the 6-0 run with a free throw to put the Aces ahead for the first time since the first minute of the game, and after Miami took back the lead briefly at 51-50, Evansville went on a 9-0 spurt to go ahead 59-50.  The lead eventually built to 15 in the final two minutes. 

Ely scored 21 and Holsinger added 20 to combine for 41 points, four days after the pair combined for 56 points in a five-point loss at Creighton.

"I'm proud of our players," Simmons said.  "This was a tough opponent for us.  Our guys picked up their intensity in the second half.  We knocked the ball loose and dove on the floor a couple times to get some loose balls.  That gave us a real spark."

After shooting 71 percent in the first half and scoring 40 points, Miami scored only 21 in the second half on 38 percent shooting.  Leading scorer Michael Bramos scored all 17 of his points in the first half.  Evansville shot 58 percent for the game, and went 21-for-28 at the free throw line compared to Miami's 6-for-10 free throw shooting.

It's back to Missouri Valley Conference play for the Aces Wednesday against Bradley, followed by the final game of the regular season next Saturday at Northern Iowa.  The Aces are tied with Wichita State for fifth place in the MVC.  The top six teams in the league advance to the quarterfinals of the State Farm MVC Tournament March 6 following first-round games March 5 between the seventh and 10th place finishers, and the eighth and ninth place teams.