Ace Hunt

GoSycamores.com

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Indiana State used a stout defensive effort and a late first half run to take an eight-point lead into halftime, but the potent Evansville offense put together a pair of runs in the second half en route to a 70-62 win over visiting Indiana State inside Ford Center.

The Sycamores saw their three game winning streak end and dropped to 6-7 on the season as well as 0-1 in the MVC. Indiana State had won each of their previous four MVC openers and still own the third-best record in league openers over the past five seasons. Evansville improved to 12-2 and are now 1-0 in conference play.

Brenton Scott led the way with 13 points, 11 of which came in the first half, while Khristian Smith scored 10 in the contest. Smith will enter the Loyola home game needing just two points to become the 36th Sycamore to post 1,000 in his career. The game was a back-and-forth affair with a total of eight ties for over eight minutes of game time and ten lead changes. A late 3-pointer from Brown gave the senior a total of 12 points.

Evansville scored eight points to open the second half as the Sycamores missed their first seven attempts from the field. Everett Clemons hit a free throw at the 13:44 mark to stop the scoreless string and put the Sycamores into a tie at 37. Brown scored on driving lay-ups on consecutive possessions around one Evansville free throw and led 41-38 with just over 12 minutes remaining.

The Purple Aces didn't score again until a Mockevicius tipin with just under 10 minutes remaining, but Khristian Smith recorded a charity toss at the 8:40 mark for the 42-40 cushion. Evansville scored six in a row at that point for a 46-42 lead and Indiana State scored their first field goal in five and a half minutes when Brandon Murphy scored in the post to cut the Aces lead down to 46-44. 

Khristian Smith pushed the Sycamores briefly ahead at the 5:52 mark with a 3-pointer for the 47-46 lead. Evansville came right back with eight points in a row, all from D.J. Ballentine, as it was the Purple Aces who went ahead 54-47 with 4:11 on the clock and the Sycamores called a timeout. The Purple Ace spurt went to 10-0 before Brown drilled a 3-pointer with just over three minutes remaining to cut their advantage down to 56-50. Ballentine answered right back with a long jumper and restored an eight point cushion for Evansville. 

Adam Wing scored first for the Purple Aces with a 3-pointer but a second chance bucket from Brandon Murphy and then a driving lay-up by Van Scyoc staked the Sycamores to a 4-3 advantage. An Emondre Rickman lay-up with 15:51 on the clock began a see-saw battle between the two teams with limited runs by each side. Devonte Brown connected on a driving lay-up at the 14:28 mark to cut the Evansville advantage down to 9-8.

Evansville which made only one of their first seven free throw attempts still led by three until Niels Bunschoten hit a 3-pointer to knot the game at 11 and a driving lay-up from Scott with 9:43 remaining staked the Sycamores to a 13-11 lead. Bunschoten scored again on a lay-up to push Indiana State ahead by two, but Ballentine tied it up at 15 with 7:17 on the clock with a short jumper. Scott answered with 6:30 remaining after a defensive stop with a 3-pointer for the 18-15 lead.

A Van Scyoc 3-pointer at the 4:17 mark staked the Sycamores to a 23-20 lead and after the Purple Aces battled back, a conventional 3-point play from Scott put Indiana State in front 26-23 at the final media timeout of the first half. The Sycamores scored consecutive buckets off Scott steals and Smith fastbreak lay-ups around an Evansville timeout and the 7-0 run surged Indiana State ahead 35-27 with 1:35 remaining. The only scoring the rest of the way with a free throw from Matt Van Scyoc and the Sycamores led 36-28 at the half as Brenton Scott led the way with 11 points.

Ballentine despite being held in check for the better part of 30 minutes finished the game with 20 points while Mockevicius posted a double-double with 20 points and 15 rebounds.

Indiana State opens the home portion of its Missouri Valley Conference schedule when they host Loyola on Saturday, January 2 at 2:00 p.m. (ET) inside Hulman Center.