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SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Mislav Brzoja scored a game-high 18 points to lead the University of Evansville men's basketball team to a 56-54 win at Missouri State on Wednesday evening at JQH Arena.
 
Brzoja connected on 4 of his 8 attempts and was 7-8 from the line.  Egidijus Mockevicius finished with his 13^th double-double of the season, posting 14 points and 12 rebounds.  With the effort, Mockevicius set the Division I single-season double-double mark for UE (13-4, 3-2 MVC).  Jaylon Brown rounded out the double digit scorers for UE with 10.
 
With the win, the Aces have won consecutive road MVC games for the first time since earning 3-straight road wins in February of 1999.
 
"Give those guys in the locker room a lot of credit.  We made the plays down the stretch to get out of here with a win," head coach Marty Simmons said.  "Our team got off to a good start, but give Missouri State credit – they battled back and gave us a run."
 
Evansville got off to a hot start in the contest as Egidijus Mockevicius got UE on the board with a pair of free throws.  Just as important was the fact that UE forced MSU's (8-9, 2-3 MVC) starting center Tyler McCullough into a pair of fouls in the opening minute.  Chris Kendrix got the Bears on the board less than two minutes in as his triple found the bottom of the net to give the Bears a 3-2 lead.
 
Jaylon Brown had a 5-0 spurt of his own.  After knocking down a pair of free throws, Brown busted the zone defense of the Bears on the next possession, hitting a trey to give UE a 9-3 lead.  The lead for the Aces would reach 13-3 in the first five minutes while holding the Bears to just 1-of-7 from the field to start the game.
 
Christian Kirk ended the UE run with his basket under 15 minutes remaining.  The Bears fought back to get within six points at 16-10 midway through the period as Kendrix knocked down his second triple of the night.  He led the Bears with eight in the first half.
 
D.J. Balentine, who was held in check by the Bears defense with four points in the frame, hit a triple with 4:14 remaining to set the Aces lead at 28-16, the largest advantage of the half for UE.  Over the final minutes, Missouri State fought back.  Kirk hit a pair of jumpers while Camyn Boone hit a layup at the buzzer to cut the Evansville lead to just six points at 31-25 at halftime.
 
In the opening possession of the half, McCullough had a powerful dunk to cut the UE lead to just four at 31-27.  They got even closer at the 16:47 mark as Austin Ruder found Dorian Williams for an open layup to cut the gap to 33-31.  The run was a 15-5 stretch for the Bears, who held the Aces without a field goal for a span of 6:12 before Blake Simmons got on the score sheet with a triple inside of the 16-minute mark.
 
Following Simmons' bucket, the Bears rallied back as McCullough converted a 3-point play to tie it up at 36-36.  The rally for the Bears saw them start the second half hitting five of their first eight shots while UE began 1-6.  Inside of 13 minutes left, Missouri State took its first lead of the night on a Kirk jumper at 38-37.
 
Evansville stayed strong and was able to retake the lead with 8:20 left as the third-consecutive basket my Mockevicius saw the Aces go up 45-44.  They were unable to hold that edge as the Bears roared back with the next four tallies to go up 48-45. 
 
They held the lead until Mockevicius struck again with 3:13 left in the game.  His bucket put the Aces on top 51-50.  On the ensuing possession, Ruder went to the line where he hit both to put the lead back in the hand of the Bears.  The back-and-forth finish continued as Brzoja drained his third trey of the game to put UE up 54-52 with just over two minutes left on the clock.
 
McCullough struck again with 62 ticks on the clock, hitting a pair of free throws to tie the game up at 54-54.  Following an MSU foul on the UE possession, the Aces had a fresh 35 and were able to convert as Balentine got a friendly roll to put UE in the lead in the final seconds.  Austin Ruder tried a three at the buzzer, but it fell short, giving the win to UE.

Four Bears hit double figures, led by Dorian Williams' 15.  Kirk had 12 while McCullough and Kendrix checked in with 11 and 10, respectively. 
 
The Aces return home on Saturday to face Wichita State at 1 p.m. at the Ford Center.  Tickets are available by calling 812-488-ACES or by visiting the ticket offices at the Carson Center on the UE campus or Ford Center.  Fans can take advantage of a special 4 for $44 ticket deal where you receive a ticket to the game against the Shockers as well as the contests versus Southern Illinois and Indiana State.  The final game of the 4-pack is your choice of any of the February home games (Illinois State, Missouri State, Bradley and Drake).