Boxscore

Sophomore Colt Ryan put up 28 points while senior Clint Hopf added a career-high 19 points as the University of Evansville men’s basketball team wrapped up the 2010-11 non-conference season with an 87-69 win over Norfolk State University tonight at Roberts Stadium.  It was Evansville's third straight victory, and improved the Aces to 6-4.

Down 36-29 at the half, the Aces began to take control of the game when Ryan hit two free throws to give UE a 53-51 lead at the 9:55 mark, its first lead since early in the game. Norfolk State tied it up at 55-all, but Ryan answered with a three-pointer to put UE in the lead 58-55.  Ned Cox hit a three to make it 61-57, Troy Taylor followed with his only basket of the game to put the Aces ahead 63-57 and two Ryan free throws put UE up 65-57.  Evansville's lead was never less than five the rest of the way, and it ballooned toward the end thanks to 32-of-42 free throw shooting in the second half alone.  The Aces scored 58 points in the second half after scoring only 29 in the first.

"The first 20 minutes, we were not very sharp," said coach Marty Simmons.  "The start of the second half, I thought we had a different look.  We were more in attack mode, and that's how we have to play to be successful."

Ryan went 19-23 from the free-throw line, coming up one free throw shy of the school record of 20 set by Matt Webster in 2006-07.  Evansville's 43 free throws as a team were only three shy of the school record. Junior Kenneth Harris tallied a game-high seven rebounds and added nine points of his own. Junior Denver Holmes also ended the game with nine points.

Rob Hampton and Chris McEachin were the leading scorers for the Spartans, who lost by just one point earlier this week at Virginia. Hampton ended the night with 19 points while McEachin followed with 17 while adding a team-high five rebounds.  

The Aces will travel to Wichita State to kick off the Missouri Valley Conference season on Dec. 29. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m.