Riley sparks Evansville past Green Bay 80-75

Dec 23, 2018, 12:23 am

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- K.J. Riley sank 12 of 14 free throws, scoring 24 points and grabbing seven rebounds, to help Evansville hold off Green Bay 80-75 on Saturday.

Marty Hill added 12 points for the Purple Aces (6-6), who snapped a two-game skid.

Kameron Hankerson scored 12 of his team-high 18 points in the first half to guide the Phoenix (6-7) to a 37-35 halftime lead. Neither team led by more than four points in the opening half.

Evan Kuhlman buried two 3-pointers in the first 59 seconds of the second half to put Evansville on top 41-37. The Purple Aces stayed in front until JayQuan McCloud hit a 3-pointer to pull the Phoenix even at 74-all with 2:23 remaining to play. Riley answered with two free throws to regain the lead for Evansville and he added a layup after Sandy Cohen III made 1 of 2 free throws for Green Bay for a 78-75 lead with 21 seconds left. Noah Frederking hit two foul shots with six seconds to go to seal it.

Evansville has won 6 of 8 games all-time against Green Bay.