EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Basketball season is officially here as the annual Hoopfest event was held on Thursday night inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse in front of a capacity crowd.
 
Both the University of Evansville men's and women's teams were introduced to the crowd and took part in several contests and a scrimmage before signing autographs for the fans.
 
First on the schedule for the night was the 3-point contest with Felicia Bostrom, Kayla Castell and Alexis Thomas representing the women's team with Noah Frederking, Marcus Henderson and Devan Straub shooting for the guys.  Casteel had a great effort, leading the women with 14 to advance to the finals while Frederking and Straub tied with 15.  In a tiebreaker, Frederking made his way to the finals with an 8-7 win.  In the last round, Frederking knocked down 19 triples to take the crown.
 
Next up was the annual Slam Dunk Contest, featuring Sam Cunliffe, Artur Labinowicz, John Hall and DeAndre Williams.  Williams notched a perfect 50 to lead the team in the first round, posting a 2-round total of 91.  Cunliffe recorded an 88 in his two dunks while Hall had an identical mark.  In the final round, it was Cunliffe taking the championship for the second year in a row with a score of 48 on his final dunk.
 
The shooting challenge featured a men's player, women's player and a fan who competed as a team to hit a layup, free throw, 3-pointer and half-court shot as fast as possible.  K.J. Riley and Anna Newman teamed up with Sam Garau; Thomasi Gilgeous-Alexander and Abby Feit were paired up with Jonathan Walker while Evan Kuhlman and Kaylan Coffman were the third team and competed with Graham Matthews.  First up were Newman, Riley and Garau.  After draining their first three attempts in under 10 seconds, Newman hit the final shot with 18.5 ticks on the clock.  Their effort looked good enough for the win until the final squad got the job done with 21.1 second left.  Evan Kuhlman swished the half-court shot.
 
Following a quick warmup, the women's team played a 10-minute scrimmage with the gray team defeating purple by a 10-6 final.  Abby Feit and Alva Soderberg registered four points apiece in the scrimmage.
 
On the men's side, it was the purple defeating the orange, 19-15.  K.J. Riley led everyone with nine points.  He hit four field goals, including a triple.  Artur Labinowicz and DeAndre Williams were next with six points each.
 
Next up for the programs is the Tipoff Dinner, which is set for Thursday, October 17 at Rolling Hills Country Club.  To reserve your spot, call 812-488-2237 (ACES).
 

• GEAR: To buy the newest official Aces athletic gear, check out the new Aces Sideline Store operated by BSN Sports on the front page of GoPurpleAces.com.

 

• INFO: For all of the latest information on University of Evansville athletics, visit GoPurpleAces.com or follow the program on Twitter via @UEAthletics.

                                   

• DONATE: For information on giving to UE Athletics or its individual athletics programs, visit the DONATE tab on the top of GoPurpleAces.com.

 

• TICKETS: To purchase tickets for University of Evansville athletics events, log on to GoPurpleAces.com and click on the TICKETS tab on top of the page.