Box Score
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PEORIA, Ill. – D.J. Balentine led the University of Evansville men's basketball team with 23 points but Walt Lemon Jr. countered with 25 to lead Bradley to an 83-66 win on Sunday at Carver Arena.
 
Balentine hit 7-of-16 shots for the Aces (10-15, 3-11 MVC) while Blake Simmons set a new career high of 18 as he hit 5 of his 12 shots and all 7 free throws.  Egidijus Mockevicius posted his fifth double-double of the season, tallying 14 points and 14 rebounds.
 
Evansville used the long ball in the early going, hitting two of its first four attempts from 3-point range to take a quick 6-2 lead as D.J. Balentine and Blake Simmons each hit a triple.  After starting the game 0-3 from the field, Bradley (11-14, 6-6 MVC) made 10 of their next 12 shots en route to a 20-12 lead at the 8-minute mark.
 
After failing to lead in the game at the Ford Center, the Braves took their first lead at 7-6 as Tyshon Pickett hit an and-one with 15:45 remaining.  The rally continued as Pickett hit back-to-back shots to make it a 20-12 game. Balentine hit his second 3-pointer of the game to get the Aces within six at 23-17 before the third old-fashioned three point play of the day saw Bradley take its first double figure advantage at 31-21.
 
Their lead would grow to as many as 14 points as a Walt Lemon Jr. layup gave the Braves a 37-23 lead with 5 minutes remaining, but over the final stretch, the UE defense clamped down, holding the Braves to just two points on 1-of-7 shooting over the final minutes of the half.  Egidijus Mockevicius got the job done on the offensive end as his two field goals contributed to a 9-2 run as the Aces trailed by just seven heading to the locker room at 39-32.
 
An interesting statistic at the break - neither team missed a free throw as the squads combined to hit all 13 attempts as UE was 6/6.  Pickett led all players with 14 points at the half.  In Bradley's stretch of making 10 out of 12 shots, they scored 22 out of 31 points to take the 14-point advantage.
 
Out of the break, Evansville posted four of the first five points as they cut the gap to just four at 40-36 on a pair of Blake Simmons free throws.  On the ensuing Braves possession, Lemon hit another and-one, starting a 10-0 run as the Braves matched their largest lead of 14 points.  They hit three out of four shots while holding UE to 0-6 with a pair of turnovers.
 
A layup off of a turnover by Pickett helped Bradley take its largest lead at 61-44 inside of 11 minutes remaining before that advantage reached 22 points at 75-53.  Mockevicius ended the stretch with his sixth bucket of the day.  Over the final six minutes of play, the lead for Bradley hovered around 20 points before finishing at 83-66.
 
Lemon, who tallied just 9 points at the break, finished with a game-high of 25 on his 10/16 shooting effort.  Pickett finished with 20 along with seven boards.  Xzavier Taylor posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
 
The Braves outrebounded the Aces by a 37-32 final while shooting 50.8% and holding the Aces to 40.4%
 
With a long road stretch in the rearview mirror, the Aces return home for four of their next five games beginning on Wednesday versus Illinois State.  Tip is set for 7:05 p.m. at the Ford Center.