Despite hanging with visiting Evansville through the first half, the Skyhawk men struggled in the second half in a disappointing 75-57 setback Wednesday night at the Elam Center.

The Skyhawks struggled against the Evansville post game, led by forward Matt Webster and center Bradley Strickland. The duo of Purple Ace big men combined for 34 points and 16 rebounds to help their team break open a close game in the second half.

“I think we just need to step up and do a better job of defending and finishing inside,” said Skyhawk head coach Bret Campbell.

The inside advantage held by the visitors led to a hot shooting second half and more opportunities to score at the free throw line, where they connected on 16 of 26 attempts in the game. Overall, the Purple Aces shot 58 percent from the floor, including 65 percent in the second half while the Skyhawks could only manage to shoot 36 percent in that period. The Skyhawks shot 41 percent for the game.

The Skyhawks enjoyed an early lead as they began the game with a high level of intensity. They led by as many as four points on two separate occasions in the first half before a stretch of turnovers late in the half allowed the Purple Aces to jump out on top.

The Skyhawks pulled even for the last time at 26-26 on a jumper by Will Lewis with 4:00 remaining in the first half. Evansville answered by scoring the next four points on its way to a 33-29 halftime lead.

Turnovers would continue to be the Skyhawks’ Achilles’ heel in the second half as the momentum shifted dramatically to Evansville after the break. The team committed seven turnovers in the second half, leading to eight Evansville points. Skyhawk turnovers accounted for 19 points for their opponents in the game. The sloppy play concerned Campbell.

“We shot ourselves in the foot several times in the second half with turnovers,” he said.

The Skyhawks used the three-point shot to remain within striking distance in the first half, connecting on 4-of-5 attempts from beyond the arc.

However, their luck changed in the second half when they made only 2-of-10 long-range shots.

Free throws also played a major role in the game as the Skyhawks attempted only 10 free throws in the game, making seven.

Evansville, on the other hand, attempted 26 free throws in the game. The team will return to action tonight at 7 p.m. when they host Freed-Hardeman.

The Skyhawks saw the chance to grab an early lead in the conference standings slip through their fingers as they fell to SEMO on Saturday 81-79.

The Redhawks got five points from David Johnson in the final 52 seconds of the game to steal victory from the Skyhawks’ talons.

The Skyhawks held a slight lead heading into the final minute of the game but continued to struggle with turnovers.

Bubba Tolliver committed a crucial turnover with 1:10 remaining that led to the go-ahead basket for the Redhawks.

That basket led to a 7-0 run for the Redhawks before a desperation three-pointer for the Skyhawks yielded the final margin.

The Skyhawks trailed at the half by a score of 38-34 but opened the second half with an unusual offensive explosion.

By opening the second half with a 25-8 run, the Skyhawks jumped out to a 59-46 lead with 10:43 remaining in the game.

The Skyhawks got another stellar performance from junior college transfer Gerald Robinson, who led the team with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

The Skyhawks lost despite forcing 21 SEMO turnovers and a 16-for-31 performance by SEMO from the free throw line.