EVANSVILLE, Ind. – After trailing by as many as 20 points in the second half, the University of Evansville men's basketball team stormed back to get within seven points before UIC held on to take a 78-67 victory on Wednesday evening inside the Ford Center.

---

Box Score

---

Five Purple Aces reached double figures in scoring with Tayshawn Comer leading the way with 18.  Gabriel Pozzato scored 13 while Josh Hughes had 12.  Tanner Cuff and Connor Turnbull finished the night with 10 points apiece.  Comer led the way with eight assists and Pozzato hauled in a team-best six rebounds.
 
"We need to have the same urgency in the first half that we brought in the second," Aces head coach David Ragland exclaimed.  "We didn't do that tonight.  Credit UIC for the way they played throughout those segments."  
 
Converting four of their first five attempts, UIC took a 9-4 lead out of the gate.  Trailing 11-6, the Purple Aces stormed back with seven in a row to take their first lead of the night at 13-11.  Josh Hughes recorded seven of those tallies before connecting on a triple for his 10^th point of the night to give UE a 16-4 edge.
 
Eight lead changes took place in the opening half as the squads swapped multiple leads over the middle portions of the period.  Things took a turn the Flames way in the final eight minutes.  With the game tied at 22-22, UIC embarked on a 16-3 run to go up 38-25 with three minutes on the clock.  The lead for the Flames reached as many as 17 (46-29) before a late basket from Tayshawn Comer made it a 47-32 game at the break.
 
Connor Turnbull knocked down a shot for the Aces first basket of the second half, but a pair of 3-pointers by the Flames pushed the advantage to 20 points at 56-36 at the 16:03 mark.  Despite the deficit, Evansville fought back.  Midway through the second half, a basket from Gabriel Pozzato cut the gap to 61-48.  With just over nine minutes remaining, Pozzato's triple made it a 12-point game.
 
While UIC fended off the challenge to go back up 15, the Aces never gave up.  A pair of free throws by Hughes with five minutes left made it a 10-point game at 69-59.  On the ensuing UIC possession, a turnover led to a Comer basket that cut the gap to eight.  UE got as close as seven in the final minutes before the Flames fended off the challenge to take the win.
 
Jordan Mason scored a game-high 19 points to pace the Flames, who shot 48.1% in the game.  Evansville finished at 45.9%.  On the rebounding side, it was UIC finishing with a 40-30 edge.
 
Next up for the Aces is a trip to Valparaiso for a 3 p.m. game on Saturday.