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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – D.J. Balentine hit 8 of his 16 shots to finish with a game-high 24 points as the University of Evansville men's basketball team took down Drake by a 61-52 final on Tuesday night at the Ford Center.
 
Balentine hit 6 of his 7 free throw attempts along with a pair of treys for the Purple Aces (19-8, 9-6 MVC).  Behind him were Egidijus Mockevicius and Jaylon Brown, who tallied 8 points apiece.  Brown hit a career-best eight free throws while posting five assists and three steals.  Mockevicius hit three shots and a pair of free throws.
 
Pacing the Bulldogs (8-19, 5-10 MVC) was Jacob Enevold.  He posted ten points and a game-high 7 rebounds.  Trevor Berkeley finished the game with 10.
 
"It was a hard-fought game, both teams played really hard," UE head coach Marty Simmons said.  "I thought our guys hung in there and showed some good resiliency.  We were fortunate to make enough plays to get the win."
 
Enevold gave the Bulldogs the early 2-0 advantage as the UE offense missed its first shot while turning the ball over twice in its first three possessions.  D.J. Balentine got the Aces on the board at the 2-minute mark.  Balentine scored a game-high 14 in the period on an efficient 6-8 start.
 
Minutes later, Duane Gibson found Jaylon Moore open underneath the basket as Moore converted to give the Aces their first lead of the day at 6-4.  That bucket was part of a 7-0 run that saw the Aces take a 9-4 lead.  Evansville's offense was stellar at the start, holding Drake to just 2-for-11 to begin the contest.
 
Midway through the half, Drake fought back to tie the game at 14-14 as Ore Arogundade was true from 14 feet.  The Aces fought back once again, embarking on an 11-2 stretch to take their largest lead to that point at 25-16.  Blake Simmons notched four points in the fun.
 
The Bulldogs got within four points at 25-21 inside the 3-minute mark, but UE took a 30-23 lead into the halftime break thanks to a Balentine triple.  Evansville shot 60% in the opening frame while limiting Drake to 36% on 9-of-25 shooting in the stanza.
 
Out of the break, Drake came out on fire, drilling their first four shots to get within a point at 32-31.  Jaylon Brown kept the Aces on top, scoring the first four points of the period from the free throw line.  Despite his efforts, the Bulldogs kept their rally going as their 7-10 start from the field in the second half saw them take a 39-37 lead.
 
Evansville began the frame 0-for-7 before an Adam Wing bucket tied the game back up at 39-39 with just over 11 minutes left in the game.
 
Wing's basket marked the beginning of what would be a 10-0 run that saw the Aces go up 47-39.  Wing had six of those ten tallies.  A Trevor Berkeley bucket put a temporary end to the run, but Evansville took back the upper hand.
 
"We tried to get stops and rotated pretty well," Wing said.  "We knew once we could get stops, we would be able to run on them in transition.  Our guys did a great job of pushing the ball."
 
Balentine notched five points in a row as the Aces took their largest lead of the night at 52-41 with just over six minutes left.  A quick 5-0 spurt, capped off by a Gary Ricks triple, got the Bulldogs with six points at the 4-minute mark, but the Aces were able to withstand the run and earn the 61-52 win.              
 
Entering the night, UE ranked 7^th in the country in assisted basket percentage.  The Aces showed just why as they were credited with 18 assists on 20 makes.  Brown had five while three others totaled three apiece.  The Aces also finished with a 28-26 edge on the boards. 
 
Evansville takes to the road for a pair of games over the next eight days.  The trek begins on Sunday as the Aces will play at #13 Wichita State.  ESPNU will cover the game, which begins at 3 p.m.  Next Wednesday, the Aces will head to Cedar Falls, Iowa to face 11^th-ranked UNI.  That game will be on ESPN3.  Evansville dealt UNI its lone MVC loss this season on New Year's Day.