EVANSVILLE, Ind. – AJ Casey banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the University of Evansville men's basketball team an 80-79 victory over Valparaiso on Saturday at the Ford Center.
Box Score
Casey completed the night with a career-high 37 points and 11 rebounds. He was one of three Purple Aces players to record a double-double in the game. Josh Hughes finished with 10 points and 10 boards while Leif Moeller completed the game with 10 points and 11 assists. Four Valpo scorers reached double figures with Owen Dease leading the way with 17.
"This was a huge win for us on Senior Day. Our guys battled all day and we were able to finish it off," UE head coach David Ragland said. "AJ was huge for us today but everyone performed when we needed them."
Valparaiso took a 5-0 lead out of the gate before Evansville got on the board with a Josh Hughes triple. Converting four of their opening five attempts, the Beacons opened a 10-3 lead in the first three minutes. Bryce Quinet hit a triple to cut the deficit to 10-6.
Following two more Valpo baskets, the Purple Aces rallied with an 8-0 stretch to tie the score at 14-14 with 12:56 on the clock. UE converted six of its eight field goal attempts to make its way back into the game. A Justus McNair 3-pointer solidified a 22-16 edge just past the midway point of the period before Leif Moeller hit his first triple of the day to cut the VU lead back down to three.
Over the next seven minutes, the score remained within two possessions. A pair of AJ Casey free throws made it a 31-29 game entering the final four minutes while the Beacons countered with a 9-2 run over the next three minutes to take their largest lead of the half at 40-31. Casey added a 3-point play in the final minute to get his team back within six while Valparaiso completed the first-half scoring with two free throws to take a 42-34 lead at the half. Casey led all scorers with 17 in the half.
Evansville closed the gap in the opening moments of the second half when a pair of Bryce Quinet free throws cut the deficit to 44-40. At the 16:36 mark, the Beacons knocked down a pair of free throws to go up 50-45. Josh Hughes took over with a layup and a triple to tie the score. Following a bucket by VU, Alex Hemenway hit a 3-pointer to give the Aces their first lead at 53-52 with 14:32 left in the game.
Four minutes later, UE held a 59-58 advantage. Kaia Berridge hit his first basket of the game to open a 7-0 run that put the Aces on top 66-58. After the Beacons cut the gap down to four points, Leif Moeller's 3-point play reestablished the 8-point edge (73-65) with 4:45 on the clock. That is when the Beacons made their move recording seven in a row to make it a 1-point game as the contest went into its final two minutes.
A Casey free throw ended the stretch, but a 3-point play by McNair gave the Beacons a 75-74 lead with 1:37 remaining. The Beacons went up by three with 43 ticks left before Casey hit a triple with 20 seconds on the clock to tie the score. The Beacons retook the lead with just three seconds left, but UE had one final chance and Casey took advantage banking in a triple to give UE the win.
The Aces shot 47.2% in the game while holding the Beacons to 43.4%. UE also had a 32-29 rebounding edge. On Sunday, the regular season comes to an end with a 3 p.m. game against Southern Illinois.
