Box Score

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Ben Simons scored a game-high 17 points as Drake University cruised to a 69-60 victory over the University of Evansville men’s basketball team in Missouri Valley Conference action Friday night at the Ford Center.
 
Freshman Ryan Sawvell was the top scorer for Evansville (7-9, 2-4 MVC) as he netted a career-best 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting.  He also grabbed six boards matching his career best.  Denver Holmes charted 12 points while Ned Cox had 10.
 
Hot shooting helped Drake early on as they hit seven of their first nine shots en route to a 17-9 advantage in the opening six minutes of the contest.  The Bulldogs connected on their first three three-point attempts as Ben Simons recorded eight early points.
 
Drake continued its run, going up by 17 points less than nine minutes in as they hit four-consecutive buckets to take a 26-9 lead before a Sawvell bucket ended the stretch.  Evansville also had problems on offense, beginning the game 4-of-13 from the field.
 
Down 30-13 with 8:47 left in the half, Evansville rallied to outscore Drake by a 19-9 tally to finish off the period down just 39-32.  Troy Taylor picked up right where he left off at Indiana State as he recorded six points in the final three minutes of the half to help UE cut into the deficit.  The Bulldogs shot an astounding 72.7% in the period, hitting 16-of-22 shots.
 
Colt Ryan looked to have the Aces going back in the right direction early in the second half, hitting a shot in the opening possession while cutting the deficit to five.  Drake had an answer again, though, extending its lead back into double figures as Aaron Hawley connected on his first trey to give DU a 50-38 lead.
 
The lead remained in the neighborhood of ten points over the remainder of the contest as the Bulldogs held on for the nine-point win.  The Aces got as close as seven points in the final minutes, but could get any closer.
 
Drake dominated the contest, leading from start to finish and held a 38-21 rebounding edge.  Their shooting was spot on, hitting 61.4% of their shots while limited UE to .426 shooting.
 
Joining Simons in double digits for the Bulldogs was Aaron Hawley, who tallied 11.
 
Evansville will be right back at work in less than 48 hours, traveling to Springfield, Mo. for a matchup against Missouri State.  The Bears fell at Northern Iowa on Friday evening after the Panthers hit a last-second bucket.