Spartan Men Earn Hard Fought Home Victory

AURORA, Ill. December 1, 2007 - The Aurora University Spartan men’s basketball team defeated the Dominican University Stars 64-60 on Saturday afternoon in AU’s Thornton Gymnasium.

The game was dominated by defense, with neither team really able to get their offensive games going with the intense pressure being put on defensively.

AU maintained a lead for most of the tight contest, trailing the Stars only two times, one being the opening three-point field goal by Dominican senior guard Troy Tonsil.

The contest was tied six different times, including a 57-57 score with 2:40 left to play in the game. But AU would build a six point lead, the games largest lead was six by the Spartans nine different times.

The Spartans took a five-point lead into halftime (30-25) with Aurora junior guard Jarrett Starwood leading all scorers with eleven first-half points on three of ten shooting in the opening half. Dominican senior guard Jose Garcia, came off the bench to knock down a quick three-pointer and finish with nine first-half points. Aurora’s Larry Welton had eight points in the opening half, to move in to 3rd on the all-time AU scoring list with his first three-pointer of the contest. The basket allowed him to surpass Joe Weber (1980-1984) who had 1,818 career points.

The second half witnessed Aurora continue to pressure the Star’s defensively and go on to the four-point victory, 64-60.

The Spartans’ leading scorer on the afternoon was Starwood, as he finished with a game-high 20 on 6-of-17 shooting. Welton finished with 16 points and five rebounds, he now has 1,832 career points.

The Stars were led by Garcia’s 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting and senior forward Mike Haiduc added a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

The win pushes the Spartans’ record to 3-2, while the Stars fall to 2-3. It was the first conference game for both teams, as Aurora moves to 1-0 in NAC play and Dominican falls to 0-1.

The Spartans return to action on Tuesday, December 4th, when they travel up north to take on NAC foe Wisconsin-Lutheran. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.