Spartans Knock Off Regents

AURORA, Ill. January 17, 2008 - The Aurora University Spartans men's basketball team defeated the Regents of Rockford College by a score of 93-70 at home in AU’s Thornton Gymnasium on Thursday evening.

The game started out looking like it was going to be a total one sided affair with Aurora jumping out to a 19-0 lead and the first Regents basket coming with 14:58 left in the first half.

The Regents never quit, storming back from behind thanks to the hot hand of junior guard Renell Taylor, who scored 25 of Rockford’s 32 first half points on five-of-five shooting from behind the three point stripe.

Senior forward Mike Leonard led the Spartans at the half with 12 points and senior guard Doug Lambert chipped in 11 first half points.

The first half concluded with the Spartans leading 48-32. The first half saw three large runs, two by Aurora, the 19-0 run to start the game and a 16-0 run to finish the half. Sandwiched in between the Spartan runs was a 24-6 Regent run to cut the AU lead to 25-24 with 6:30 left.

The second half was much of the same story as the Spartans out scored the Regents 45-38.

Taylor was slowed considerably in the second half, only scoring six second half points while finishing with a game-high 31 points.

Leading the offensive attack on the night for the Spartans was junior guard Jarrett Starwood with 20 points and 6 assists. Five offensive players scored double digits for the Spartans; including sophomore forward Shane Roland’s 18 points on six-of-nine shooting from the field and three-of-four from behind the three point line off the AU bench. Mike Leonard contributed a double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds, junior guard Chad Trudo finished with 12 points and Doug Lambert added 14 points. Sophomore forward Lance Robinson chipped in a game-high 10 assists and four points.

The Spartans will see their next action at home Maranatha Baptist Bible College on Saturday, January 19, 2008 with game time set for 4:15 p.m. in Thornton Gymnasium.