EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Feeding off the enthusiasm of over 5,000 fans at the Ford Center, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team outdueled the University of Northern Iowa, earning an 91-89 overtime victory.
Evansville had the upper hand throughout most of the first half, leading by 10 points before UNI took over in the second half, taking a 7-point edge. Forty minutes was not enough to decide things as a late Panther basket forced overtime. In the extra period, the lead changed hands seven times, but it was the Purple Aces who pulled off the win.
“(UNI head coach) Ben Jacobson is the standard in the Missouri Valley Conference, it doesn’t matter what year it is, they play the same quality basketball,” UE head coach David Ragland said. “Our guys kept fighting, clawing and did whatever they could to come out on top and I am proud of the group.”
Antonio Thomas had the best Division I performance of his career, tallying 27 points. He was 8-of-11 from the field and 9-for-10 from the line. His top collegiate scoring output of 29 came in his time at Kentucky Wesleyan. He added 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Ben Humrichous scored 18 points while Joshua Hughes scored 11. Tanner Cuff registered 9 points and a team-high 7 rebounds. Tytan Anderson led UNI with 20 points while Nate Heise scored 19.
“Our main goal was to stay focused and bounce back. We went into practice that next day and worked on our mistakes,” Thomas exclaimed. “It was good to hit some shots today and I credit my team for trusting me with the ball in my hands.”
Cam Haffner opened the day with a pair of 3-pointers to give the Aces a 6-5 edge. A basket from Ben Humrichous and two Antonio Thomas free throws extended the lead to 10-5. Joshua Hughes converted a long 2-pointer in a run that was capped off by a triple from Gage Bobe that extended the lead to 19-9 at the 12:07 mark.
Over the next four minutes, the Panthers chipped away at the UE lead, closing to 21-16 with the half entering its final nine minutes. UNI got even closer when a field goal by Tytan Anderson closed the gap to 24-20 inside of six minutes left. Antonio Thomas scored on the ensuing possession before a layup from Tanner Cuff pushed the lead back to eight (28-20) with 4:55 showing on the clock.
Limited to 20 points through the first 15 minutes of the game, Northern Iowa scored 17 in the final minutes to retake the lead entering halftime. Scoring nine of the next ten points, the Panthers tied the game at 29-29 less than two minutes later before going up 33-30. Four in a row by the Aces put them back up 34-33 as Thomas and Cuff each hit shots. The final minute saw UNI counter with four in a row to head into halftime with a 37-34 advantage.
Ben Humrichous was held to just two points in the first half, but scored five in the first 3+ minutes of the second. His offensive rebound and score made it a 1-point game before a triple with 16:40 remaining tie the score at 43-43. Seconds later, Haffner gave Evansville its first lead of the second half at 45-44.
Up 48-47, Northern Iowa posted eight of the next ten to take their largest lead at 56-49. Hughes continued a perfect 4-for-4 start as a dunk completed a 6-0 run to make it a 56-55 game entering the last 11 minutes. The Panthers would once again push the lead back out to six points at 63-57 with eight minutes left and that is when it began to rain triples.
Humrichous converted back-to-back triples to cut the UNI lead to 66-65, but both times the Panthers countered with long balls of their own to go back up four. Antonio Thomas connected on a triple shortly after before he and Tanner Cuff converted on another basket to put Evansville in front – 72-71 – with 3:22 left. In the final minutes of regulation, the Aces would go up by three on two occasions, but a shot with seven second on the clock saw the Panthers tie it to force overtime.
An exciting overtime session ensued with the lead changing hands seven times. Neither team backed down, but it was Evansville who came through in the end. With 1:38 remaining in OT, Antonio Thomas drained his second triple to give UE an 86-84 lead and they would never give up that advantage. After UNI made one free throw on their next trip down the floor, a turnover by UE gave the ball right back. With 35 ticks on the clock, Humrichous blocked a Panther attempt and the dagger came from Tanner Cuff. His 3-pointer with seven seconds left put the Aces up 89-85 and UE would go on to win by a 91-89 final.
“I am grateful that Antonio and my team trusted me to take that shot,” Cuff explained when detailing the late triple. “I work on my shooting all the time and just knew it was going in.”
Evansville completed the game shooting 54.5% from the field with UNI checking in at 50.0%. The Aces had a 34-29 edge in the boards. There were 13 lead changed and eight ties in the contest.
BYU is next up for the Aces as they will tangle on Tuesday in Provo, Utah. The Cougars enter the game with a 7-0 record and were ranked 19th in both national polls last week.
