EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Led by a pair of 20-point scorers, Evansville handed the Drake University men's basketball team an 84-65 loss Tuesday evening at the Ford Center.

Drake (5-12, 0-5 MVC) trailed by 16 points at halftime and despite shooting 50 percent in the second half could not catch an Evansville (15-3, 4-1 MVC) squad that scored 50 points in the paint and held a nine-rebound advantage. The Purple Aces got 24 points from the Missouri Valley Conference's leading scorer, D.J. Balentine, and a 21-point, 14-rebound performance from center Egidijus Mockevicius.

The Bulldogs were led by Reed Timmer's (New Berlin, Wis.) 19 points while Jacob Enevold (Lunderskov, Denmark) finished just shy of a double-double with 14 points and eight rebounds. Freshman Billy Wampler  (Eau Claire, Wis.) poured in a career-high 14 points on a 3-of-5 night from the arc. All 14 of Wampler's points came in the second half as he tried to rally the Bulldogs back into the contest.

Early on, five points from Drake's Casey Schlatter (Iowa Falls, Iowa), including his second career three-pointer followed by a bucket from Timmer, pulled the Bulldogs within a point, 14-13, with 11 minutes left in the half. However, the Aces answered with an 11-0 run over the next five minutes to take a 25-13 lead on a Mislav Brzoja three-pointer. Brozja finished the contest with 15 points.

Drake scored seven of the next nine points, but Evansville countered by scoring 11 of the final 13 points of the half, six of them from Mockevicius, to take a 38-22 lead into half time. 

The Bulldogs opened the second half on a 9-4 run to try an claw back within 11 points in the first four minutes of the half. Free throws and a Balentine three-pointer ran Evansville's lead back out to 20 points, 54-34, with 13:51 left in the contest. 

Drake's shooters warmed up minutes later, going on an 8-0 run bookended by three-pointers from Wampler that pulled the Bulldogs within 10 points, 68-58, with 6:36 left. At one point, Drake made 7-of-9 shots from the field, but four turnovers in a two-minute period helped the Aces keep their lead in double figures for the remainder of the contest. Drake committed 15 turnovers in the loss that were converted to 18 points by Evansville.

The Bulldogs return home for their next contest on Sunday, Jan. 17, to host SIU at the Knapp Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. with the contest broadcast on ESPNU.