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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Four players registered double figures as the University of Evansville men's basketball team capped off exhibition play with a 95-50 victory over Wabash on Saturday afternoon at the Ford Center.
D.J. Balentine led the way with a 7-of-11 performance that netted him a game-high 22 points. Next up was Adam Wing. The junior also had a stellar outing, knocking all three long-range attempts en route to 16 points. Rounding out UE's top scorers were sophomores Blake Simmons and Mislav Brzoja. They posted 12 and 11, respectively.
Daniel Purvlicis paced the Little Giants with 13 points to go along with eight caroms. Local product Kyle Aiton took a team-high 15 shots on his way to 11 points.
Wabash held strong over the first several minutes, taking a 13-12 lead, but from there, it was all UE. Evansville took an early 6-2 lead as Duane Gibson scored the opening four tallies of the game. The Little Giants made their way back as Newburgh, Ind. native Kyle Aiton scored seven in a row as they took a 13-12 advantage just over seven minutes in.
At that point, UE regrouped and scored the next seven before going up by as many as 22 in the period. Four Aces scored in the run before Adam Wing found his groove. The junior led everyone with 11 in the opening frame, including his second trey, which gave Evansville a 31-20 advantage.
Wing's three was part of a 13-0 stretch that saw the Aces go up 39-20. With 2:07 left, Egidijus Mockevicius hit his first bucket of the contest as the lead reached 22 before UE went to the locker room with a 45-26 advantage. Offensively, the teams were equally matched in the half, but the difference came from the free throw line. Evansville took 22 trips to the stripe, hitting 18 while Wabash made four trips and connected on each one.
In the second half, Evansville took full control of the game. With 13:04 left, the advantage reached 30 for the first time on a Balentine trey before the edge got as high as 45 with the final 95-50.
For the game, UE shot 56.6%, including 18-of-26 in the latter period (69.2%). The Little Giants finished the day at 33.3%.
Mockevicius and Brzoja led the Aces with seven boards apiece, but it was Wabash finishing with the 33-32 advantage. It was another unselfish performance for UE as they posted 19 assists on 30 attempts. Eleven out of the 12 Aces who played recorded an assist.
The regular season commences next weekend as the Purple Aces take on Earlham at the Ford Center. The squads will square off at 2:05 p.m. inside the Ford Center. From there, UE takes to the road for its next four games.
