Boxscore

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Balanced scoring by the University of Evansville overcame a 27-point performance from the University of Texas at San Antonio’s Jeromie Hill Wednesday night, and the 2-0 Purple Aces won their 500th game in 34 years at the Division I level, 77-73 over UTSA.

UE is now 500-446 (.529) since going D-I in 1977.

Evansville’s Colt Ryan hit one of two free throws with 53 seconds to go to tie the score 73-73. The Roadrunners missed two shots on their next possession and Evansville's Clint Hopf finally grabbed the rebound with 15 seconds remaining.  UE senior guard Kavon Lacey was eventually fouled as he drove to the basket with 2.2 seconds remaining, and he promptly hit both free throws to give the Aces the winning points and a 75-73 lead. UTSA’s inbounds pass downcourt was caught out of bounds by Melvin Johnson.  Evansville’s Kenneth Harris was then fouled before the clock started with 1.1 seconds to play, and he hit both free throws for the final four-point margin.

"This was a good win all the way around," said Evansville coach Marty Simmons.  "That's a good basketball team over there.  We had a lot of guys step up when we needed a big play, and our bench came through tonight also.  This was a total team effort."

Three Aces reached double figures, led by the 15 points of Denver Holmes and Ryan. Freshman Jordan Jahr came off the bench to add 10. Hill, a freshman, led UTSA (1-1) with 27 points and 12 rebounds.  Senior Devin Gibson added 21 points and 5 rebounds. 

Evansville plays its next four games on the road, beginning Sunday with a 12:05 CST game at Indiana University.  It will be the Aces' first game against the Hoosiers since 1997-98.