MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Bryce Quinet scored 19 points while Max Langenfeld scored a career-high 18 points on Tuesday to lead the University of Evansville men's basketball team in a 73-68 loss to Middle Tennessee State inside the Murphy Center.
Quinet was 8-for-19 from the field and had seven assists. Langenfeld knocked down five triples while passing his previous scoring mark of 15, which came in his time at Florida Atlantic. Caden Symons recorded nine points. AJ Casey led the Purple Aces with eight boards. Quintero Barnett paced the Blue Raiders with 18 points.
"We played hard and kept competing and that allowed us to stay in the game. To lose by just five with some uncharacteristic circumstances showed the fight our guys have," UE head coach David Ragland said. "On Saturday against USI we were able to learn some lessons after winning and today we will do the same and learn from this game and be ready for Saturday."
Baskets from Caden Symons and Bryce Quinet put UE in front 4-2 in the opening minutes before the Blue Raiders came back with a 10-0 run to go up 12-4 just over nine minutes in. Evansville struggled from the field missing 14 shots in a row before Max Langenfeld hit a triple to end the stretch. MTSU hit a triple on the other end to go back in front 15-7.
With 4:30 on the clock, the lead for Middle Tennessee State reached a game-high of 14 points at 27-13. Over the final minutes, the Purple Aces defense held the Blue Raiders scoreless while completing the period on a 7-0 run to trail 27-20 at the break. UE held MTSU to 0-5 from the field while forcing three turnovers. Langenfeld led UE with nine points in the half.
Gustav Winther knocked down a triple in the opening possession of the second half as the Aces continued to rally. Four minutes into the final stanza, a Quinet triple made it a one possession game at 32-29. Langenfeld added another bucket to get UE within one and with 13:31 on the clock, Quinet's 3-point play tied the game at 34-34. Symons followed up with a basket on the next possession that gave Evansville its first lead since a 4-2 advantage in the opening minutes.
MTSU regrouped to go back up by six at 45-39 before Aaron Gutman hit from downtown with just under nine minutes remaining to cut the deficit in half. Inside the 7-minute mark, the Blue Raiders converted a 3-point play to go in front 50-46 while Makuei Riek knocked down two free throws on the next trip down the floor to make it a 2-point game. As the contest entered its final four minutes, a pair of Langenfeld 3-pointers kept his squad in the game with his second one making it a 60-56 score with 3:09 left.
The lead for the Blue Raiders reached 10 with 1:30 remaining, but the Aces had one more run. They cut the score in half to trail 70-65 with 34 ticks left and would get within four in the final seconds before MTSU finished with the 73-68 win. MTSU shot 50.9% in the contest while the Aces finished at 35.5%. UE had a slight 36-35 edge on the boards. The Aces are back home Saturday for a 1 p.m. game versus Miami Ohio.
