Recap: Evansville vs. Missouri State

Evansville, IN (Sports Network) - The Evansville Purple Aces got a three- pointer from Denver Holmes in the waning seconds of regulation to force overtime and they held on to defeat the Missouri State Bears 75-70 in the Missouri Valley Conference finale at the Ford Center.

Neil Cox scored 17 points for Evansville (15-14, 9-9 MVC) while Troy Taylor and Colt Ryan netted 12 points apiece. Kenny Harris and Ryan Sawvell put up 11 points each for the Purple Aces, who have won three of four.

Jamar Gulley led all scorers with 20 points for Missouri State (16-15, 9-9), which ends the regular season on a four-game losing streak. Anthony Downing tallied 17 points and six assists, Kyle Weems chipped in 13 points, and Keith Pickens grabbed 10 rebounds for the Bears.

Missouri State shot a lights-out 63.2 percent from the field in the first half to take a 34-26 advantage into halftime.

After Evansville came back to tie the game at 42-all with 12:17 left in the second half, the teams spent the rest of the half exchanging leads and ties. With 16 seconds remaining, a Weems jumper put the Bears up 60-59, and after a turnover by the Purple Aces, a pair of Anthony Downing free-throws extended their lead to 62-59 with eight seconds left. With one final possession, Holmes was able to drain the three-pointer with three seconds left to tie the game at 62-all and force an extra stanza.

In overtime, Evansville scored the first bucket and never trailed after that.

The Purple Aces won in spite of getting dominated on the glass, 50-31.