Evansville’s Mockevicius and Balentine Earn MVC Honors

From Bob Pristash, University of Evansville Sports Information Director

For the first time since 1989 and the first since joining the Missouri Valley Conference, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team has two players named to the MVC All-Conference First Team.

The Valley announced its awards on Tuesday and saw juniors D.J. Balentine and Egidijus Mockevicius garner First Team honors while Mockevicius also earned a nod on the All-Defensive squad.

Balentine and Mockevicius have led the Purple Aces to their best regular season effort in 15 years as they enter Arch Madness with 19 regular-season victories.

For the second year in a row, Mockevicius finished the season as the top rebounder in the league, averaging 9.9 rebounds per game. The native of Lithuania also shot the ball extremely well, hitting 59% of his shots. Even more impressive were his efforts from the free throw line. He was the #3 shooter from the foul line in the Valley, checking in at 83.2% while hitting 69 of his last 80 tries.

On December 22, 2014, he was named the MVC Player of the Week for the first time in his career thanks to a 25-point, 12-rebound effort against Alabama State. Mockevicius has 17 double-doubles on the season, ranked in the top five in the NCAA and the most in Evansville’s Division I era.

Mockevicius was also named to the All-Defensive Team for the second year in a row. He has done it all on the defensive end of the floor and ranks fourth in the country with an average of 7.68. He also ranks near the top of the league in blocked shots once again with 64 on the season.

Balentine followed up his stellar sophomore campaign with another conference-leading scoring effort. The Kokomo, Ind. product posted an average of 19 points per game this season and has registered double figures in 58 of Evansville’s last 63 games.
In December, Balentine had the top scoring streak in 27 years as he recorded 20 or more points in 8-consecutive games. The last UE player to do that was head coach Marty Simmons, who did so as he wrapped up his playing career with the university in 1988.

This marks the second First Team honor in a row for Balentine and the first for Mockevicius. Last season, Mockevisiu was named an honorable mention player. The duo make it a total of ten first teamers for the Aces since joining the MVC in 1994. It is the eighth time the program has had two on the first team and the first time since Scott Haffner and Dan Godfread earned the accolade in 1989 when Evansville was part of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference.

Evansville begins the MVC Tournament on Friday against Illinois State. Tip is set for 2:30 p.m. at Scottrade Center.