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ESTERO, Fla. – Jaylon Moore had one of the best games of his career, posting 13 points on a 5-for-6 shooting day, but Green Bay was able to hang on in the end, taking a 64-62 win over the Purple Aces men's basketball team in the second game of the Gulf Coast Showcase at Germain Arena.
 
"We played much better offensively in the second half and had a better tempo," UE head coach Marty Simmons said.  "Our guys really battled, there is no doubt about it.  We obviously disappointed but I was very proud of our guys; our team just as to get better and that starts tomorrow."
 
Moore led Evansville (3-1) with 13 points as he converted 3 of his 4 free throws.  D.J. Balentine and Blake Simmons each finished with 12 while Adam Wing chipped in 10 points.  Both Simmons and Balentine each hit a pair of 3-pointers.
 
Keifer Sykes paced the Phoenix (3-1) with 20 points on 9-of-17 shooting.  He also led all players with 8 caroms.  Carrington Love and Greg Mays had 11 points apiece.
 
Evansville started 0-2 with a turnover, but quickly got the offense rolling.  After Green Bay took a 2-0 lead on a Sykes jumper, the Aces roared back with seven in a row.  Egidijus Mockevicius had back-to-back buckets under the basket before Blake Simmons knocked down his first triple of the season to make it 7-2.  The Phoenix began the contest 1-7 from the floor with three turnovers.  Greg Mays ended the streak with a banked in shot from just inside the perimeter.
 
With the Aces up 12-6, Green Bay made their first run of the game, recording 10 straight tallies on their way to a 16-6 lead.  They converted three buckets in a row in the run as Sykes was responsible for four of those points.  Evansville rallied back to take a 17-16 lead, draining four free throws in a row by Mockevicius and Simmons with 6:32 left in the period.
 
Once again, Green Bay had an answer, reeling off the next six points as they went up by a 22-17 score.  They took their largest lead of the half at 26-20 on a Turner Botz triple in the final minute, but D.J. Balentine responded with one of his own as the Aces went to halftime trailing 26-23.  Balentine scored five points in the final two minutes after missing his first five shots of the game.
 
Balentine's first make of the contest with 1:41 left ended a field goal drought of over nine minutes as the Aces missed nine in a row.  Despite shooting 28% (7/25) in the period, UE trailed by just three tallies.
 
Out of the break, the Phoenix scored the first three tallies while drawing the third foul of the day on Mockevicius.  David Howard scored the first points of the period for UE after grabbing an offensive board.  Green Bay would go on to take a 36-28 edge before UE had a 9-2 stretch while cutting the gap to just one at 38-37. 
 
Adam Wing hit his second trey of the night in the run before recording an assist on a Jaylon Brown layup to cap off the rally.  Jaylon Moore kept the rally going as he had five points in a row for UE to tie it up at 42-42 before the Aces retook the lead at 47-46 on a Mislav Brzoja triple. 
 
Carrington Love helped the Phoenix go up by a 54-51 score on his second 3-pointer of the game, but shots by Wing and Moore saw the back-and-forth action continue with the Aces back up 55-54.  Sykes took over at that point as his consecutive buckets, including an and-one, put the Phoenix back on top, 59-55.
 
With Green Bay up 63-59, Balentine took matters into his own hands as he knocked down a three with 1:17 remaining and just one second left on the shot clock to get UE within one.  Following a Phoenix turnover, the Aces had another chance with under 30 ticks left, but a triple fell short.  The Aces had one more chance as they were down two with 10 seconds remaining, but the final shot fell short in the 64-62 final. 
 
Tomorrow evening, Evansville will take on either San Francisco or Florida Gulf Coast in the third place game of the tournament.  Game time will be at 6 p.m. ET at Germain Arena.