Evansville tops No. 23 Northern Iowa
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Evansville, IN (SportsNetwork.com) - D.J. Balentine scored 17 points to lead Evansville to a 52-49 win over No. 23 Northern Iowa on Thursday.
Egidijus Mockevicius supplied 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Purple Aces (11-2, 1-0 MVC), who won their fourth straight game in their Missouri Valley Conference opener.
Seth Tuttle had 18 points to lead the Panthers (11-2, 0-1) and Wes Washpun added 11 off the bench in the loss.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Panthers built some separation in the first half courtesy of a 13-0 run that helped them to a 24-10 lead with 5:25 left.
Evansville closed to within 30-20 at halftime.
The Purple Aces ran off nine straight points early in the second half to pull within 34-33 prior to the second media timeout.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Evansville took the lead later in the frame, but Tuttle's layup moved the Panthers back in front by one with 3:46 left. They did not score for another 3:38, however, as Washpun cut their deficit to 48-47 with under 10 seconds left.
Jaylon Brown converted a pair of free throws before Washpun made another one inside to keep it a one-point game, but Brown made two more at the line and Jeremy Morgan's 3-pointer was off the mark on the final possession.
Game Notes
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Northern Iowa shot 44 percent from the floor and limited the Purple Aces to 32 percent shooting. However, Evansville made 19 free throws on 25 attempts compared to 6-of-7 from the line for the visitors ... Evansville shot 1-for-11 from beyond the arc.