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NORMAL, Ill. – The University of Evansville men's basketball team fell to Illinois State by a final of 77-51 in Missouri Valley Conference basketball action at Redbird Arena on Tuesday night.
 
D.J. Balentine was the leading scorer for UE (16-7, 6-5 MVC), finishing with 12 points.  Illinois State (15-8, 7-4 MVC) was led by Reggie Lynch, who had 16.
 
At the start, Illinois State was hitting everything.  After D.J. Balentine posted the first bucket of the game, Reggie Lynch scored four in a row as ISU posted 12-consecutive tallies to go up 12-2 less than four minutes into the game.  They hit 5 of their first 7 shots while UE committed four early turnovers, which all resulted in Redbird points.  Blake Simmons halted the stretch as he outran the defense for an easy bucket before Jaylon Brown hit a layup to get UE back within six at 14-8.
 
Minutes later, 3-straight buckets saw the Redbirds take their largest edge at 21-9 as MiKyle McIntosh hit a bucket.  After Evansville cut the gap to six (21-15) midway through the half, ISU wrapped up the period on a 22-9 run to take a 43-24 lead at the break. 
 
ISU finished the period shooting 58.6% (17/29) while the Aces checked in at 33%.  Daishon Knight and Reggie Lynch had 9 apiece in the half while Balentine led the Aces with 8. 
 
McIntosh struck again on their first possession out of the break, knocking down a three.  On the next possession, his jumper gave the Redbirds their largest lead at 48-24.  A 13-2 run in the opening minutes of the period gave the Redbirds a 56-26 lead.  They would lead by as many as 36 before settling for the 26-point win.
 
ISU shot 49.2% on the day while the Aces finished at 32.7%.  The Redbirds also finished with a slight 39-37 rebounding edge.
 
Bradley is up next for the Aces as they return home for a 1 p.m. game on Saturday.  Tickets are available by calling 812-488-ACES or by visiting the Carson Center or Ford Center ticket offices.  Fans who purchase two regular priced tickets to the game will be entered to win a pair of floor seats to the game.  Those tickets MUST be purchased at the Carson Center.  The floor seat offer ends on Wednesday.