Spartan Named Northern Athletics Conference Men’s Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week

AURORA, Ill. January 3, 2008 - Aurora University men’s basketball standout, senior forward Larry Welton (Chicago, IL/Thornwood HS), was named the Northern Athletics Conference Men’s Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week.

On the week in which Welton became just the third player in AU men’s basketball history to surpass the 2,000 point mark for a career, he averaged 28.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.

In AU's opening game victory over Baldwin-Wallace at Franklin College, Welton scored 45 points on 15-of-27 shooting from the field, grabbed 11 rebounds, had four assists, three blocked shots and three steals. The 45 points is good for second all-time at AU in a single game (two shy of the record).

On the year, Welton is averaging 22.7 points per game while shooting 45.1 percent from the field. With 13 regular season contests remaining at AU, Welton is 138 points behind Clyde Oatis (1966-1970) for second on the all-time scoring list and is 445 points behind AU’s all-time leading scorer Mickey Johnson (1970-1974), Johnson has 2,453 career points.

Welton and the Spartan men are in action next on Wednesday, January 9, 2008, when they travel to Concordia University, Chicago. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. in a Northern Athletics Conference men’s basketball showdown. The Spartan men are currently 9-3 on the season and 5-0 in the NAC.

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