Boxscore
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The visiting Belmont University Bruins hit 17 of 35 three-pointers but still needed a late 8-0 run to beat the University of Evansville Purple Aces 92-76 in the opening round of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament at Roberts Stadium Wednesday night.
The loss brought an end to a much improved season under second-year head coach Marty Simmons that included the Purple Aces' first winning season since 2000 and their highest finish in the Missouri Valley Conference since 2003. Evansville is the nation's seventh most improved team, going from 251st in their final RPI ranking last season to 96th in 2009.
Wednesday's game also brought an end to the careers of UE's top three scorers--Shy Ely, Jason Holsinger and Nate Garner. All three will graduate in May. Holsinger finished his career with 1,442 points, the 12th most in Aces' history. Ely, the MVC scoring leader this season with an 18.9 average, was right behind with 1,423 points to rank 14th all-time at UE.
"Our seniors gave 110 percent," Simmons said after the game. "That's what makes it hurt so much, to see those guys go out with a loss in their final home game."
After Evansville cut the Belmont lead from 21 down to nine points at 72-63 with 4:34 to play, BU's Matthew Dotson and Alex Renfroe hit back-to-back threes, followed by a pair of free throws by Renfroe to stretch the lead back to 17 points. UE could not get closer than 14 points the remainder of the game.
Ely finished the game one point below his career high, with 28 points on the night. Ely shot 11-25 from the field and pulled down six rebounds. Ely was joined in double figures by Garner, who tossed in 17 points on 8-9 shooting.
The Bruins saw four players reach doubles figures, including reserve guard Jonny Rice. Rice, a freshman, entered the game averaging just 2.0 points per game and playing just 4.8 minutes, but Rice logged 27 minutes on Wednesday night, shooting 5-6 from the field, and 3-4 from behind the arc, to total a career best 15 points. Renfroe, the Atlantic Sun Conference MVP, led the Bruins with 29 points, the most points scored by an Evansville opponent this season.
Evansville finishes the season with a 17-14 record after reaching post-season play for the first time since 1999. Belmont advances to the second round of the CIT with a 20-12 record.
"We reached a lot of goals this season, and we didn't reach some," said Ely. "But this game doesn't take away from the things we accomplished. This was a great bunch of guys to be around. I love my teammates, and I'll miss them."
Added Garner, "The support we got from the fans was great, and this season we made a small step in the direction that Coach Simmons and all of us want to take this program."
Added Holsinger, "There are great things ahead for this program. The community support is so strong here, and it's just going to get better as the program continues to improve."
