PEORIA, Ill. – Trailing by ten points with four minutes remaining, the University of Evansville men's basketball team got within one tally in the final minute, but Bradley was able to escape with a 63-61 win on Saturday inside Carver Arena.
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"Our guys did not give up, they made some good plays and kept on battling," UE head coach Walter McCarty said. "We lost that game in the last two minutes of the first half; we sent them to the line too much. If we keep them off the line, we win this game."
"It was fun to see how we kept on fighting, we did a lot of good things today."
K.J. Riley was the Aces' (10-19, 4-12 MVC) leading scorer with 13 points. He was 5-for-11 from the floor. Local native Shea Feehan recorded 11 points on the day. He hit two triples and three free throws. Darrell Brown was the top scorer in the game, finishing with 19 points while hitting nine free throws for the Braves (16-13, 8-8 MVC).
A quick start saw the Aces jump out to an 8-0 lead just over two minutes in. K.J. Riley hit a floater to get the scoring started before Marty Hill and Evan Kuhlman posted triples to give UE the lead just over two minutes in.
Bradley responded with a 10 stretch while holding UE to 1-of-7 shooting over the next five minutes. Noah Frederking ended the stretch with a steal and runout to tie the game before Kuhlman's second triple completed a 5-0 spurt. The Braves rallied to tie it up at 13-13 before Frederking knocked down a triple to put Evansville back in front. The Aces extended their edge to 25-19 on a Riley layup with 3:14 remaining.
Over the final three minutes of the half, the Braves took control, scoring 11 in a row to take a 30-25 lead into halftime. BU hit three of its final four attempts while holding UE to 1-for-8 to wrap up the first 20 minutes. Evansville attempted 21 triples in the first half.
After a Bradley bucket extended its run to 13-0 in the opening possession of the second half, John Hall hit his first from long range to make it a 32-28 game. The Braves came right back, scoring eight in a row to push the lead to a game-high 40-28.
Peoria native Shea Feehan got Evansville right back into the contest. He connected from long range before getting fouled on another attempt from outside as the Aces cut the Bradley lead to two points – 44-42 – midway through the second half. The Braves were able to rebound and push their lead back to 61-51 with four minutes left in the game. Riley helped UE get closer as his layup and free throws, coupled with a Kuhlman three, cut the BU lead to 61-58 with one minute left.
Another Riley bucket made it a 61-60 game with 29 ticks on the clock. Following a free throw make, the Aces had the ball down two. A missed triple gave the ball back to Bradley as they were able to hang on for the 63-61 victory.
Evansville out-shot Bradley by a 38.6%-32.7% margin, but the Braves had a 41-35 rebounding edge. Kuhlman, Frederking and Dainius Chatkevicius had solid outings for UE. Kuhlman tallied nine points, all coming via the long ball. Frederking notched eight points while Chatkevicius had eight points and four rebounds.
On Wednesday, the Aces will play their final home game of the season against Southern Illinois with tip set for 6 p.m. It will mark Senior Day when the program recognizes its class of Marty Hill, Dainius Chatkevicius. Shea Feehan and Jared Chestnut.
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