Lafayette, LA (SportsNetwork.com) - D.J. Ballentine led the way with 35 points as Evansville defeated Louisiana 89-82 in a CIT quarterfinal game on Thursday.

Jaylon Moore and Adam Wing scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, while Mislav Brzoja supplied 10 points and nine rebounds off the bench for the Purple Aces (22-12), who shot 56.6 percent from the floor and limited Louisiana to 41.4 percent shooting.

Evansville will host their CIT semifinal game at Ford Center on Tuesday.

Shawn Long paced the Ragin' Cajuns (22-14) with 24 points, 11 boards and three blocks, Kasey Shepherd netted 15 and Devonta Walker provided 13 points in defeat.

The Purple Aces pulled away late in the first half as Ballentine nailed a 3- pointer to open an 11-2 run. Ballentine scored five points during the spurt, while Jaylon Brown provided four as Evansville led 44-37 at the half.

Midway through the second half, the Ragin' Cajuns got within two on a Jay Wright trey, but Ballentine scored four straight points to quickly restore Evansville's lead to six points.

Long, Walker and Shepherd each made layups during a 6-1 spurt for Louisiana to make it a 72-69 with over five minutes to play.

Evansville, however, put the game out of reach as Egidijus Mockevicius kicked off a 6-0 run for a 10-point lead with under two minutes left.