GAME INFORMATION
Final Score: Evansville 74, Loyola 73
Records: Evansville (20-7, 9-5 MVC); Loyola (12-14, 5-9)
Location: Gentile Arena -- Chicago, Ill.
Attendance: 2,257
Stats: Box Score | Season Stats
Watch: Postgame Press Conference | Postgame Press Conference

In Short...
Loyola came all the way back from a 19-point, second-half deficit to take the lead but D.J. Balentine's floater with 18 seconds left lifted Evansville to a 74-73 win over the Ramblers this afternoon at Gentile Arena.

Loyola's defense keyed the comeback, as the hosts held the Aces to just 24% shooting in the second half after they blazed the nets at a 66% clip in the opening 20 minutes.

Devon Turk led the Ramblers with 22 points while Egidijus Mockevicius led Evansville with 24 points, 16 rebounds and seven blocks.

How It Happened
+ Loyola trailed by 11 with 4:18 remaining but went on a 14-2 run, capped by back-to-back baskets from Montel James, to take a 73-72 lead with 31 seconds left
+ Balentine answered with his shot to give the Aces the lead back to set up a wild final sequence
+ After a timeout, Loyola was whistled for a five-second call on the inbounds and Evansville immediately turned it back over on their inbounds pass
+ Milton Doyle had a decent look at the buzzer but his shot was just a bit long and did not go down
+ Evansville raced out to an 11-2 lead to start the game and led 15-5 before Devon Turk went on a personal 10-0 run to tie the game at 15-all
+ After the teams traded baskets, Evansville ripped off the next 14 in succession to grab a 31-17 advantage and it went into the locker room at halftime with that same margin (50-36)
+ The Aces scored the first five points of the second half to build a 19-point edge before Loyola started to chip away
+ Every time the Ramblers would make a charge, Evansville would answer but a three-point play from Doyle finally got the hosts within 10 (65-55) at the 6:33 mark
+ Peterson and Turk got LU's final charge started before James scored the final four points, setting up Balentine's eventual game-winner

Inside The Box Score
+ Turk was outstanding, finishing with a team-high 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor and 6-of-6 from the free throw line
+ Peterson pitched in with 15 points and LU had four others with at least seven points -- Doyle (nine points, five rebounds, five assists), James (8), Tyson Smith (8), Donte Ingram (7)
+ Evansville shot 65.5% in the first half but Loyola turned up the defense in the second, holding the Aces to just 24% on 6-of-25 shooting
+ Both teams were outstanding from the free throw line, with Evansville finishing the game 20-of-21 (95%) and the Ramblers 14-of-17 (82%)
+ This was the sixth meeting between the teams since Loyola joined The Valley, with the games being decided by a total of 26 points (4.5 ppg avg; Evansville: 5-1)
+ Loyola's bench brigade posted 54 points this afternoon and the group has averaged a NCAA-best 41.4 ppg over the last nine games
+ Julius Rajala gave the Ramblers some nice minutes, tying his career highs with six rebounds and two blocks to go with four points in 16 minutes
+ Loyola enjoyed a 10-9 edge in offensive rebounds but the Aces made theirs count with a 17-9 advantage in second chance points

Next Up
Loyola has a quick turnaround ahead of Wednesday night's home game with Northern Iowa. Tip-off from Gentile Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised live on CSN Chicago Plus with Jordan Bernfield and Jeff Dickerson on the call.