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CARBONDALE, Ill. – Five Purple Aces finished in double figures as the University of Evansville defeated Southern Illinois by a 72-64 final on Saturday afternoon at SIU Arena.
 
Evansville (18-8, 9-6 MVC) was led by 15 points from D.J. Balentine.  Mislav Brzoja had 14 on an extremely efficient 5-of-7 day from the floor.  Jaylon Moore had 13 while Duane Gibson finished with 12 and Egidijus Mockevicius tallied 10.
 
"It was a great team win, give the guys credit.  We hung in there as a grind it out type of game," UE head coach Marty Simmons said.  "Jaylon Moore was outstanding and it was great to get Egidijus back into the lineup."
 
UE hit 16 of its 24 shots in the second half on its way to shooting 56.3% for the game.  Southern Illinois (10-17, 3-11 MVC) checked in at 41.7% as four players had double figures.  Jordan Carolian was the top scorer for the Salukis, posting 13.
 
At the start of the game, it was Tyler Smithpeters giving the Salukis an early 7-0 advantage as he scored five points over the first two minutes of the game.  Duane Gibson got the Aces on the board as Blake Simmons found him underneath the basket.
 
That bucket set the Aces on a 10-2 run as they took their first lead of the game (10-9) five minutes in.  Egidijus Mockevicius, making his return to the floor after missing the last two games, was responsible for six of those tallies as he knocked down a pair of jumpers and hit two free throws.
 
The Salukis wrestled the lead back and went up 14-12 inside of the 14-minute mark.  Over the next 5:42, neither team was able to score until Jalen Pendleton hit a pair of free throws with 7:48 remaining in the period.  SIU eventually went up 18-14 seconds later before the Aces made their second significant rally of the day.
 
Evansville hit six shots in a row, including a triple by D.J. Balentine as the Aces went up by a 28-22 tally with exactly three minutes left.  As the seconds dwindled down in the frame, Smithpeters struck again as his trey saw the Salukis trail by just one - 30-29 - at halftime.
 
Balentine and Smithpeters tied for the game-high with ten tallies at halftime.  Evansville hit all seven free throw attempts   .
 
Seven Deion Lavender tallies in the opening minutes of the second half saw the lead go back into the hands of the Salukis as they went up by five at 41-36.  Evansville made its way back behind a stellar game courtesy of Jaylon Moore.  His and-one knotted the game at 43-43 with under 13 minutes remaining.
 
The run turned into a 14-4 stretch as UE took a 50-45 lead on a Duane Gibson dunk with 10:37 left.  At the 6:19 mark, a pair of Jordan Carolina free throws cut the gap to just one at 56-55 before Evansville regrouped and went on a 12-3 run to take its largest lead of the game at 68-58.  They would lead by as many as 11 before UE earned the 72-64 victory.
 
With the win, the Purple Aces earned their first season sweep of the Salukis since the 1997-98 campaign.
 
Tuesday will see UE back at the Ford Center to take on Drake.  Tip is at 7:05 p.m. and tickets are available at the Carson Center or Ford Center Ticket Office, by calling 812-488-ACES or logging on to TicketMaster.com.