Evansville claims CIT title over Northern Arizona

Evansville, IN (SportsNetwork.com) - Egidijus Mockevicius flew in for a wide open dunk with nine seconds left in the CIT finals.

It was a fitting end for the junior Lithuanian.

Mockevicius scored a career-high 27 points to go along with 12 rebounds and the Evansville Purple Aces knocked off Northern Arizona, 71-65, in a back-and- forth title game from Ford Center.

D.J. Balentine, who was named the tournament MVP, added 14 points and four assists and Jaylon Brown scored 10 for Evansville (24-12), which won five straight games to claim the CIT title after dropping its final four games of the regular season.

Mockevicius' three-point play late in the first half sparked a 7-0 run that sent the Purple Aces into halftime leading 29-21.

An 8-0 run the other way early in the second half put the Lumberjacks up 40-39, and it was tight the rest of the way.

Evansville trailed by a point just after the final media timeout when Brown found Blake Simmons for a jumper, then drove in for a transition slam. After Ako Kaluna cut the deficit to one with a layup, Balentine split a pair of free throws, Adam Wing made it four with two from the line and Balentine fed Mockevicius for his dunk after Kaluna was off the mark on a trey.

Kris Yanku led Northern Arizona (23-15) with 16 points.