Spartan Men Stay Unbeaten in NAC

AURORA, Ill. January 19, 2008 - The Aurora University men’s basketball team defeated the visiting Crusaders of Maranatha Baptist Bible College 76-63 on Saturday evening. The win keeps AU atop the Northern Athletics Conference standings with a 9-0 record, while their overall record moves to 13-3. Maranatha falls to 5-10 overall and 2-7 in the NAC.

The first half was marked by lead changes, as both teams varied between hot and cold shooting streaks. Maranatha put an early scare into the home crowd as the Crusaders jumped out to an early 12-4 lead five minutes into the contest. The Spartans responded following a Aurora timeout with an 8-0 to knot the game at 12. The rest of the half saw both teams continue to exchange leads before Aurora managed to take a 35-34 lead into the intermission thanks to a last second three-pointer by sophomore guard Lance Robinson.

Leading all scorers at the half was Maranatha sophomore guard Mike Knepp. Knepp accounted for 16 first half points on five-of-seven shooting, which was highlighted by a perfect four-of-four from downtown. The Spartans were paced by senior forward Larry Welton, who had 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting.

The second half witnessed more competitive play as the teams battled it out for most of the period before Aurora closed out the final 10:45 on a 26-14 run including a 14-4 run that gave the Spartans much needed breathing room.

The Spartans were able to break away due to the stellar play of Welton and a timely hot-hand by senior guard Doug Lambert. Welton led all scorers with 36 points on 15-of-24 shooting and added five rebounds and five steals. Lambert, who was zero of four shooting in the first half, found his stroke and connected on four straight three-pointers at one time; and ended up finishing the game with 14 points and three rebounds.

Maranatha was led by Knepp, who ended up finishing the game with 25 points and six rebounds. Senior guard Josh Burch also had an impressive game, finishing with 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

The next action for the Spartans comes on Wednesday, January 23, when they travel to River Forest in order to take on Dominican University at 7:00 p.m.