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CHICAGO – Sophomore Blake Simmons led the University of Evansville men's basketball team with 13 points as the Purple Aces utilized a 21-5 second-half run to defeat Loyola by a 65-56 final on Wednesday evening at Gentile Arena.
 
Evansville (14-5, 4-3 MVC) went on a 7-0 run at the end of the first half to lead 24-23 at the break before the Ramblers (13-6, 3-4 MVC) fought back to go up by six in the second half.  UE held off a furious Loyola rally to clinch the game.  With the win, the Aces improve
 
"Give the players credit, they are the ones that get everything done.  We lost Mislav (Brzoja) and they rallied around that," head coach Marty Simmons said.  "Loyola showed so much attention to D.J. that our other guys had to step up and that is exactly what they did."
 
Simmons hit 5 of his 8 shots while dishing out three assists.  Egidijus Mockevicius recorded his 14^th double-double of the season, finishing with 12 points and a game-high 13 boards.  Adam Wing, in his second game back since injury, posted eight points.  Taylor Stafford set his career mark with six points.  He hit a pair of 3's in the first half.
 
Blake Simmons hit the first bucket of the game while Loyola took its first lead at 6-4 on a Devon Turk basket.  Evansville's offense was scoreless over a span of 6:16 before David Howard knocked down a pair of free throws with 11:13 left in the half. 
 
Neither team could get its shot to fall as the Aces began 2-for-13 while the Ramblers were 5-17.  UE went nine minutes without a bucket before Egidijus Mockevicius ended the stretch with a jumper to tie it up at 8-8 inside of the 9-minute mark.  The spurred a stretch of three-consecutive makes as the Aces went up 12-10.
 
Turnovers hampered the Aces in the first half as they committed 11.  That helped Loyola take their largest lead of the day at 21-14 inside of three minutes left.  That is when the Aces turned it on as Taylor Stafford knocked down a pair of triples as UE rallied to take a 24-23 lead at halftime.  Following Stafford's first trey, the Ramblers went back up 23-17 with 1:49 left.  That final span of the half saw UE outscore the Ramblers 7-0 to take the lead.  Mockevicius finished the half with 6 points, 5 rebounds and 4 blocks.
 
Evansville's offense began to hit its stride out of the break as the Aces hit four of their first seven shots to take their largest lead at 32-28 with just under 16 minutes remaining.  That edge was short-lived as Jay Knuth hit a triple on the ensuing Loyola possession to cut the deficit back to one.
 
His bucket spurred a 7-0 run that eventually extended to a 12-2 stretch as Loyola went back up by six points at 40-34.  Adam Wing put a stop to the rally as he hit his first bucket since returning to the team after missing six games.  Loyola's offense was clicking after halftime as they were 8-12 to begin the second stanza.
 
Just as fast as Loyola made its rally, Evansville battled back with a run of its own.  A 13-3 stretch saw the Aces go back up 47-43.  Blake Simmons spearheaded that run as he hit a trey and knocked down two free throws with 7 minute left.
 
With 4:12 left, Duane Gibson gave the Aces their largest lead at 57-47 on a breakaway layup.  That capped off a 21-5 rally for the Aces as they retook the advantage.  Just as they did two weeks ago at the Ford Center, the Ramblers did not go away.  Three's by Devon Turk and Donte Ingram saw Loyola get within five at 59-54 with 2:15 left.  Free throws by Jeff White cut the gap to three at 59-56 with 56 ticks left. 
 
A 6-0 LUC run was ended by D.J. Balentine as his second field goal put the Aces up 61-56 with 43 seconds left.  Following a Rambler miss, a foul sent Mockevicius to the line where he hit both to put the Aces back up by seven at 63-56.  A pair of Adam Wing free throws capped off the game as UE took a 65-56 win.
 
Turk led Loyola with 14 points while Montel James finished the night with 11.
 
Evansville shot 48.1% for the game, including 53.3% in the second half.  Loyola checked in at 41.2%
 
The Aces return home on Saturday as they face Southern Illinois in a 3 p.m. contest.  Next Tuesday, UE is back at the Ford Center to wrap up the season series against Indiana State.  For tickets, call 812-488-ACES or visit the ticket office at the Ford Center or Carson Center.