Aces Making History

(St. Louis, MO) – Purple Aces are making history and re-writing record books. In Friday’s 66-55 win over Illinois State two Evansville (16-3, 5-1) stars moved their names into prominent places in Valley and Aces’ lore.

Egidijus Mockevicius, the nation’s leading rebounder, grabbed 20 rebounds and in so doing passed Evansville icon Jerry Sloan as the second greatest rebounder in UE history. The 6’10 senior from Lithuania has gathered 1,056 caroms and trails only Dale Wise’s 1,197.

D. J. Balentine topped the 20 point mark for the 11th time this season, finishing with 25 points and passing Wichita State’s Cleo Littleton for ninth on the Missouri Valley’s all time scoring list. Balentine’s total of 2,168 is 48 points shy of eighth place currently held by Creighton’s Doug McDermott.

Balentine, who scored just 291 points as a freshman has averaged over 20 points per game his last three seasons for Head Coach Marty Simmons. The senior from Kokomo, Indiana has a reasonable shot at topping Colt Ryan (# six in the Valley all-time) as the top scoring Purple Ace of all time. Ryan finished his Evansville career with 2,279 points.

The Aces are idle until Tuesday’s home game with Loyola.

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