Spartan’s Drop Rare Home Contest

AURORA, Ill. November 20, 2007 - The Aurora University Spartan men’s basketball team lost to the visiting Cardinals of North Central College 78-70 on Tuesday night at Aurora University’s Thornton Gymnasium. The loss, only Aurora’s ninth at home since 2000 (AU is 77-9 in that time), pushes the Spartans’ record to 1-2 overall, while the win improves North Central to 3-0.

The hard fought contest saw 17 lead changes with the final lead change coming with 8:30 remaining in the game. At the time, North Central took a 58-57 lead, one they would not relinquish) on the second of two free throws by junior forward Matt Rogers.

The Cardinal built a seven point lead with just over two minutes to play in the contest but the Spartans were able to trim the lead to two (72-70) with just over 30 seconds to play on a three-point basket by senior forward Larry Welton..

But the Spartan late effort was unsuccessful as North Central would outscore the Spartans 17-10 in the final minutes in order to snag the road victory.

Rogers’ eleven second half points paced North Central’s comeback. The junior finished the night with nineteen points, eight rebounds and two assists. Junior forward Chris Drennan also had a stellar night, as he finished with eighteen points and seven rebounds.

The Spartans were led into halftime by senior forward Doug Lambert, who topped all scorers with 17 points at the break on six of seven shooting. Lambert’s stellar half was highlighted by his three three-pointers, which propelled Aurora to a 41-36 halftime lead.

For the Spartans, Lambert finished the night with 22 points, on seven of twelve shooting, and seven rebounds, while junior guard Jarrett Starwood had a game-high 23 points and seven assists. Welton finished the night with 18 points and eight rebounds.

The Spartans return to action on November 28th, as they travel to Decatur to take on Millikin University. Game time is set for 7:30 pm.