King scores 20, Valparaiso defeats Evansville 76-69

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Kobe King had 20 points in Valparaiso's 76-69 victory against Evansville on Saturday night.

King added nine rebounds for the Beacons (7-12, 1-7 Missouri Valley Conference). Ben Krikke scored 18 points while shooting 8 of 11 from the field and 2 for 3 from the line, and added five rebounds and five assists. Quinton Green was 6 of 11 shooting (3 for 8 from distance) to finish with 15 points. The victory snapped a five-game slide for the Beacons.

The Purple Aces (4-15, 0-8) were led in scoring by Yacine Toumi, who finished with 18 points and seven rebounds. Antoine Smith Jr. added 16 points and eight rebounds for Evansville. In addition, Marvin Coleman had 15 points. The Purple Aces prolonged their losing streak to six straight.

Valparaiso took the lead with 3:22 to go in the first half and never looked back. The score was 34-28 at halftime, with Green racking up 12 points. King scored 15 points in the second half to help lead Valparaiso to a seven-point victory.

NEXT UP

Both teams next play Tuesday. Valparaiso hosts UIC while Evansville visits Southern Illinois.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.