EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Three University of Evansville men's basketball players scored 16 points in Sunday's regular-season finale that saw the Purple Aces fall to Southern Illinois by a score of 81-67.
Box Score
AJ Casey, Josh Hughes, and Trent Hundley each scored 16 points. Leif Moeller finished the game with 10 points. Casey registered a team-high 8 boards while Bryce Quinet tallied seven assists. Damien Mayo Jr. scored a team-high 23 points while Prince Aligbe had a double-double with 14 points and 12 boards.
"We played very well this weekend being faced with a back-to-back. Our players attacked it head on," UE head coach David Ragland said. "To win the game we did yesterday in the fashion that we did was big and to have a chance to win in the final minutes today was a positive for us. The heart of our group is encouraging to see."
Picking up right where he left off from Saturday's game, AJ Casey knocked down a triple on UE's opening possession and scored Evansville's first five points of the game. Five minutes in, a 3-pointer by Damien Mayo Jr. gave SIU its first lead at 8-5. Josh Hughes quickly tied the game with his first 3-pointer of the day.
Five more tie scored led to a 20-20 score heading into the final nine minutes of the half. That is when the Salukis gained control scoring eight in a row to go up 28-20. Casey ended the stretch with a dunk while Leif Moeller converted a bucket to cut the deficit to three at 28-25 inside the 6-minute mark. With 3:25 on the clock, a pair of Hughes free throws made it a 30-27 game.
The defense of the Salukis took over as they held UE scoreless over the final minutes. The Aces missed their final four shots while committing a turnover. SIU's offense scored the final eight points of the half to open a 38-27 advantage at the half. Casey led all players with 10 points in the opening stanza.
Two SIU free throws gave the Salukis a 13-point lead in their first possession of the second half. Moeller's second triple of the game ended the scoreless drought as UE would cut the deficit down to nine points. SIU would go back up 47-35 four minutes into the period, but UE continued to fight back. Bryce Quinet got things going with a jumper before Hughes hit a basket and Casey added a 3-point play to make it a 47-42 game inside the 14-minute mark.
Hughes' second triple got the Aces back within a possession a minute later. Approaching the midway point of the period, regained a 56-50 lead on a Prince Aligbe basket. Following a Hughes jumper, Trent Hundley dialed it up from downtown to cut the gap to a point. With 7:21 left, Southern Illinois extended the lead back up to six points (63-57), but another UE rally quickly tied it. Hundley hit another triple before being fouled on another attempt. He knocked down al three free throw tries to tie the game.
Seconds later, Mayo drained another triple to put SIU back in front and they would enter the final three minutes with a 6-point lead. Turnovers on three consecutive possessions helped SIU push the lead back to ten points – 77-67. The Salukis would finish the day with the 81-67 win and finished the game on a 12-0 run while holding the Aces scoreless for the final 4:36.
For the game, SIU shot 46.9% while holding UE to 42.6%; they also held a 39-28 rebounding tally. Evansville awaits its opponent for the opening game at Arch Madness.
