Boxscore
EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- It took 39 minutes and 58 seconds to decide the issue, but the first Missouri Valley Conference victory for the University of Evansville is in the books. The Aces built a 12-point lead and then held off 20-game winner Wichita State Tuesday night at Roberts Stadium, 65-62.
The Aces (7-17, 1-13) were led by James Haarsma with 18 points and seven rebounds. Denver Holmes added 17 points and three steals. Colt Ryan was limited to seven points, but his last point broke Jason Holsinger's UE record for points by a freshman. Ryan now has 366. Garrett Stutz put in 15 points and six rebounds for the Shockers (20-6, 9-5) while Demetric Williams collected 12 points. Evansville outshot the Shockers, hitting 19 of 38 shots for 50 percent while Wichita State was 21 for 52 for 40.4 percent.
"You like to see guys who work hard get rewarded, and you like to see fans who are loyal to their team get rewarded," said Coach Marty Simmons. "This is the best energy we've played with all season defensively. We had guys diving on the floor and taking charges. We were aggressive, and we took good shots. I couldn't be prouder of them."
The Aces led by 12 early in the second half at 35-23 before Clevin Hannah eventually tied the game for Wichita State with 6:25 to go on a 3-pointer to make it 48-48. Seven points from the free throw line helped the Aces put together a 55-48 advantage, and Haarsma put Evansville up by 10 at 59-49 with 3:54 to play. But the Shockers eventually cut the lead to one with 7.5 seconds to go when Hannah put in all three free throw shots after being fouled beyond the arc. Colt Ryan grabbed the inbounds pass for Evansville, was fouled, and made both free throws to put UE up by three at 65-62 with 5.8 seconds to play. Wichita quickly got the ball across midcourt, but the Shockers turned it over with two seconds to go to give Evansville its first victory since December 19.
Added Haarsma, "We work hard every day, win or lose. It's been tough, but we've never given up on each other. This feels great. We played with a lot of energy, and we got big plays from a lot of different guys."
UE will hit the road Saturday, playing at Southern Illinois at 2:05 p.m.
