Box Score

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – #Colt Ryan scored 19 points while Egidijus Mockevicius# added 10 rebounds to lead the University of Evansville men's basketball team to a 66-56 win over Bradley on Wednesday evening at the Ford Center.
 
Up 51-50 in the second half, UE (12-8, 5-3 MVC) scored nine in a row and never looked back while cruising to the win.  Ryan hit 7-of-13 shots to finish with 19; with the effort he moved into third place on the UE all-time list with 1,903.  He passed Ed Smallwood's total of 1,898.  He was the only Ace in double figures as Ned Cox finished with 9 while Lewis Jones and Troy Taylor chipped in eight apiece.  Mockevicius had one of his top efforts as the freshman scored 7 points while leading all players with a career-high 10 rebounds and four blocks.
 
"We need everybody to contribute, from Lewis Jones' start to great minutes from D.J. to Adam Wing's shot, everyone had a part," head coach Marty Simmons said.  "In order for our team to be successful, we need to be a balanced basketball team.  Every night in the league is a battle and you have to compete hard to have a chance."
 
Lewis Jones had it going early on, knocking down three of his first four shots to help the Aces jump out to an 8-6 lead in the early going.  He had the opening four UE points in the contest.  After the Braves tied the game up at 8-all, Ned Cox showed his hand, scoring the next six points for the Aces as they would later go on an 8-0 run to take an 18-10 lead before BU responded with five in a row of their own to get back within a possession inside of eight minutes left in the first half.
 
Bradley was able chop into the deficit thanks to 16 first-half points courtesy of Walt Lemon Jr. as he was a perfect 4-4 from 3-point range in the opening half.  The Braves tied the game up at 28-28 before Cox connected on a bucket in the final seconds to send UE to the break with a 30-28 lead.
 
In the first half, BU was 4-6 from 3-point range while Evansville was 0-4.  Evansville's success came off of its defense, which forced ten turnovers in the first stanza.  Inside the arc, the Aces were 12-20 while Bradley hit just six out of 18 attempts.
 
Colt Ryan hit three out of his first five attempts of the second half as the Aces slowly pushed the lead back to seven at 46-36 eight minutes into the period.  The Braves would counter with a run of their own, reeling off seven out of the next ten points to get within a possession once again at 46-43.
 
After missing its first 10 treys of the night, freshman Adam Wing changed that in an instance as Ryan found him open in the corner to give Evansville a 51-45 edge.  The Braves quickly countered that with a 5-0 stretch capped by a Will Egolf three, BU's sixth one of the night.  Up by just a point, Evansville refused to give in, scoring nine in a row in a stretch that included a Ryan three as the UE lead reached double figures for the first time at 60-50.  The Aces hit 5-of-7 buckets in the run.
 
The lead did not go under eight points over the remainder of the contest as the Aces earned the 66-56 victory. 
 
By finishing with a 32-31 rebounding edge, Evansville improved to 8-1 when holding the advantage on the boards.  The Aces are also 5-0 when winning the opening tip and 11-3 when leading at the half.
 
Lemon led Bradley with 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting and a 4-4 performance from long range.  Dyricus Simms-Edwards and Tyshon Pickett notched 12 points apiece.
 
Next up for the Purple Aces will be a trip to Normal, Ill. to face Illinois State.  Evansville and ISU face each other on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at Redbird Arena.  The MVC Network will televise the contest.  On Tuesday, UE returns home to face Northern Iowa.