EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Connor Turnbull and Keishon Porter scored 20 and 18 points, respectively, to pace the University of Evansville men's basketball team in an 84-76 loss to UT Arlington on Tuesday evening at the Ford Center.
Box Score
A strong offensive performance saw the Mavericks shoot 62.2% from the field on their way to the victory. Turnbull led all players with 20 points on a 9-of-15 shooting effort. Porter scored 18 points while Josh Hughes finished the night with 11. Turnbull led UE with five boards while Leif Moeller was credited with six assists. Raysean Seamster and Tyran Mason led UTA with 19 points apiece.
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UT Arlington jumped out to an early 4-0 lead before a 3-pointer by Alex Hemenway at the 16:58 mark tied the score. Leif Moeller connected from downtown on the ensuing possession to give the Aces their first lead of the evening at 7-4. Keishon Porter followed up with the next six points to cap a 13-2 run that gave Evansville a 13-6 edge with 13:23 remaining in the half.
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Just past the midway point of the period, the Mavericks umped back in front at 16-15 as the teams swapped the lead a total of eight times in the stanza. Inside of five minutes remaining, the game was tied at 22-22 before UTA scored six in a row to jump back in front. UE knotted the score at 32-32 with 1:18 remaining on a triple by Porter before the Mavericks grabbed a 35-34 edge at the break.
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Despite shooting 63.2% in the opening 20 minutes, UTA led by just one as they turned the ball over 16 times. Raysean Seamster had 15 points in the half while Porter led the Aces with 10.
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On the first possession of the second half, Moeller found Turnbull for a dunk that returned the lead to UE. The teams exchanged the lead six times over the first five minutes of the second half. A triple by Josh Hughes gave UE a 47-46 edge, but a 7-0 run by UTA put them up by six. Hughes followed up with a 3-point play to chop the deficit in half before another 3-pointer by the Mavericks solidified a 61-54 lead with 11:21 on the clock.
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Up 63-58, UT Arlington scored 10 in a row to take their largest lead of the night at 15 points with 6:31 remaining in the game. Over the next two minutes, Evansville cut the gap to 11 on multiple occasions, however, UTA answered each time. With just over three minutes remaining, a 3-pointer pushed the lead back to 14.
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Hemenway's second triple of the game made it an 82-72 score inside the final minute and a layup by Moeller a few seconds later cut the gap to nine. In the end, UT Arlington fended off the challenge to win by a final score of 84-76. UTA shot 62.2% while UE finished the game at 46.2%. The Mavericks finished with a 35-17 advantage on the glass.
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Next up for the Aces is a trip to the Paradise Jam in the US Virgin Islands. UE opens the tournament on Friday against Oregon State at 7 p.m. CST. Depending on results from the opening round, Evansville will face either Iona or Akron in the second round.
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