Boxscore
EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- There's a new member of the team at the University of Evansville, and the accolades are already pouring in. It's the Roberts Stadium crowd, more than 7,000 strong on Sunday to help the Purple Aces improve to 9-2 with a 76-65 victory over defending league champion Drake (9-4, 0-1) in the Missouri Valley Conference opener for both teams.
It's Evansville's best start in 14 years, and the nine wins match the Aces' entire win total from last season.
"It's amazing how much energy you can get from a Roberts Stadium crowd," said senior Jason Holsinger. "The people here are great to us. We want to give the community a product they can be proud of."
The crowd of 7,409 had plenty to be proud of Sunday afternoon, especially during a crucial three-minute stretch in the second half. With the game tied at 41, Holsinger hit UE's first three-pointer of the day to make it 44-41 with 11:03 left, then hit another less than a minute later to put the Aces up 47-41. Shy Ely followed with a free throw and a basket to make it 50-41, and Holsinger closed out the 12-0 run with his third straight three-pointer to give Evansville a 53-41 advantage with 7:45 remaining. The lead eventually ballooned to 18 at 71-53 with less than two minutes remaining.
Drake, coming off a 17-point win over Iowa in its last game, had won four in a row and nine of the last 11 against the Aces coming into Sunday's game.
"Coach Simmons is always talking about making momentum plays, and we did that today," Ely said. "Offensive rebounds, taking charges, diving for loose balls; those things just seem to lead to good things for us."
So does 51 percent shooting, led by Holsinger's 5-for-6 performance and Kavon Lacey's 7-for-8 shooting off the bench. Holsinger and Ely led the Aces in scoring with 16 points, and Ely added 12 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. Forward Nate Garner added 15 points and Lacey scored 14. Freshman Kaylon Williams scored only four points, but made 13 assists. Those five players and freshman James Haarsma contributed the most in the decisive second half.
"We went with a smaller lineup, and that seemed to give us better ballhandling and more movement," said UE coach Marty Simmons. "They were more aggressive, too. They seemed to click well together."
Drake junior Josh Young led the Bulldogs with 24 points, and Jonathan Cox added 12 points and eight rebounds.
The Aces have a New Year's Eve date at Illinois State, one of the few unbeaten teams in the country. The Redbirds are now 12-0 following Sunday's overtime win at Missouri State. Game time is 2:05 Wednesday at Redbird Arena in Normal.
