SIOUX FALLS – On Senior Night, the University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball Team (17-9, 12-8 NSIC) utilized the performances of its senior leaders Trevon Evans and Drew Guebert to earn a second straight victory with a 80-60 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference South Division decision over Upper Iowa (6-20, 3-17 NSIC) at the Stewart Center.

Senior guard Trevon Evans scored a game-high 28 points while grabbing seven rebounds, dishing three assists, recording two blocks and adding a steal. Evans, who was among five seniors honored prior to the game, also had a rim-rattling dunk which brought the USF faithful to its feet late in the second half.

In his last regular season home game, Evans hit 11-of-19 field goals and made 5-of-8 from three-point range in his 31 minutes on the floor.

Senior Drew Guebert added 20 points with five rebounds, block, steal and a dunk himself in the victory. Guebert, who now has 1,923 career points, hit 7-of-8 field goals and all three of his three-point shots. He now has extended his USF all-time lead in made three-pointers to 261. He also had 20 points in a game for a second straight night and the 42^nd time in his career. Guebert, who has 90 career double-digit scoring games, totaled 53 points in two games this weekend as he moved his career NSIC point total to 1,393 which places him eighth all-time on the league's career list. 

The other three seniors also had contributions to the USF win. Justin Taylor added seven points while Aaron Rothermund haved five points, three rebounds and two assists and Jacoby Odegaard knocked in a three-ball late in the game. Overall, USF played 13 players and 11 of them scored against UIU.

With the win, USF swept the season series and recorded their fifth straight victory against UIU. USF now stands 12-8 in the NSIC South and is tied for third place with rival Augustana, which they play Friday, Feb. 22 at the Elmen Center. USF, which is just one game out of first place in the NSIC South, will close the regular season on Feb. 23 at Wayne State. The Wildcats are tied with Minnesota State for the NSIC South lead at 13-7.

"This was really a nice way for us to close out the regular home schedule," said USF Head Coach Chris Johnson, who now has 193 career wins at USF and 209 overall. "We really clamped down on defense and held a good shooting team in check. Plus, I am happy for the seniors to win in their final regular season home game. We had a lot of good performances across the board and I saw us going after loose balls and fighting for every possession. It will help give us momentum moving forward," he said.

As for the seniors, they improved as a group to 37-19 in the past two years and 69-48 mark over the past four seasons.    

Against UIU, the Cougars hit 50.8 percent from the floor on 31-of-61 shooting. USF made 10-of-26 from three-point range for 38.5 percent but were just 8-of-20 from the foul line for 40 percent. However, the Cougars are the league's top rebounding unit and had a 44-28 advantage on the boards. USF also had just 11 turnovers and dished 13 assists on their 31 baskets.

UIU was led by Chris Olson with 15 points and four rebounds. They made 18-of-53 field goals for 34 percent and knocked in 5-of-24 from three-point range.  

It was USF's defense against the three-ball which played a key role in the victory. USF held the league's top three-point shooting team (11.4 made threes per game) to half of their normal average. And, holding UIU to 34.0 percent shooting from the field was also a key to USF's victory.

Game Breakdown –
From the opening tip, USF took control with an 8-0 run after a basket from freshman guard Troy Houghton. At the 11:13 mark of the first half, Evans dropped in a triple as USF took a 16-6 advantage. Then, UIU made a run as USF's offense bogged down a bit. A lay-up from Jackson Foley helped the Peacocks draw within 20-19 with 4:15 to play. But USF responded as Chase Grinde hit a jumper, Guebert had two foul shots and Taylor made a lay-up for a 26-19 lead. Then, Guebert hit a three with 1:49 to play followed by Rothermund's triple with 13 seconds left to give USF a 32-23 lead at the break.

When the Cougars own a lead at the break, there is a good chance that they will emerge with a win. For the 16^th time in 18 games with the halftime lead, USF finished with a victory after taking a halftime advantage.

Early in the second half, USF had an 11-4 run to take a 43-27 lead over UIU as Evans knocked in a triple. From there on, UIU tried to make runs but their failure to sustain offense was crippling to their chance to rally. Another three from Evans with 12:08 to play gave USF a 48-32 advantage. The Peacocks were able to draw only within 14 points twice the rest of the way.

A three from Evans again at the 7:56 mark gave USF a 60-39 lead. And with 5:20 to play, Evans finished on a 6-0 USF run with his dunk off a feed from Rothermund for a 69-43 lead. And, with that crowd-pleasing play, UIU didn't have any answers left. USF extended their lead to 76-48 with 2:40 left on a tip-in by Austin Slater and allowed Johnson to empty his bench and the seniors walked off with a win in their final regular season home game before a cheering group of USF fans.