ST. LOUIS – For the second year in a row University of Evansville guard Colt Ryan was named to the All-Missouri Valley Conference First Team as three other Aces received all-conference honors on Tuesday.
 
Senior Troy Taylor earned a berth on the All-Defensive Team for the second year in a row while #D.J. Balentine and Egidijus Mockevicius# earned All-Freshman Team honors by the league.
 
Ryan has established himself as one of the top players in the conference and was named a First Team MVC player for the second year in a row.  He is just the second Evansville player to do so as Marcus Wilson was named to the team in 1998 and 1999.
 
The Batesville, Ind. native was the second leading scorer in the Valley this season, posting 20 per game.  He enters the MVC Tournament with 2,173 points as he looks to break Larry Humes’ all-time UE record of 2,236.
 
Taylor picked up his second All-Defensive Team honor as he led UE in rebounding for the second year in a row.  The senior registered just the second triple-double in program history with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists at Creighton.  The Anderson, Ind. product registered 19 rebounds against Missouri State on his way to an average of seven per game over the course of the season.
 
Balentine and Mockevicius’ appearance on the All-Freshman Team mark the fifth time in six years that the Aces have had a player voted to the squad.  They are also the third set of UE teammates to make the list as Jason Holsinger and Shy Ely earned the accolade in 2006 while Dan Lytle and Clint Cuffle were named to the team in 2001.
 
Balentine was the Aces’ third leading scorer, tallying a season-high of 26 points in the game at Colorado State.  He has ten double-figure outings this season.  Mockevicius has made his impact on both sides of the floor while leading all players with 2.2 blocked shots per game in league play.  He has posted 55 blocks this season, the most for a UE player in a single season since Sascha Hupmann registered 74 in the 1991-92 campaign.