Benedictine Upsets Spartans at Home

AURORA, Ill. January 22, 2009 - The Aurora University Spartan men’s basketball team fell to the visiting Eagles of Benedictine University 83-76 on Thursday evening in Thornton Gymnasium.

The first half was a close back-and-forth battle between the Spartans and Eagles, coming to a close as senior guard Chad Trudo sunk a last minute jump shot to put the Spartans up 38-32 at halftime.

AU was led by Trudo who was 7-for-12 from the field, three-for-three from three-point range and three-for-three at the free throw line.

Sophomore center Skyler Ormsbee tallied six rebounds, followed closely by junior guard Dusty Magee and junior forward Lance Robinson who each had four. Ormsbee and Magee each grabbed two steals from the Eagles.

The Eagles were 12-of-31 from the field and 5-for-14 from the three-point range. Junior forward Dan Klecan led BU as he was six-of-nine from the field and three-for-five with three-pointers.

Overall, the Spartans nailed 28-of-72 field attempts and were 7-for-22 from the three-point range. They also made 13-of-14 free throw attempts.

Trudo ended the night with 30 points (12-of-24 shooting from the field), four rebounds and a steal. Robinson had 16 points, shooting 7-for-16 from the field and grabbed seven rebounds and one steal. Roland had 13 points, shooting 3-for-14 from the field and 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Magee recovered four rebounds as well as four steals with Ormsbee grabbed nine rebounds, two steals and chipped in 10 points.

The Eagles’ ended the night making 28-of-60 field attempts in addition to being 11-for-26 from the three-point range. Klecan posted 22 points followed closely by senior guard Jared Bailey who added 18 points.

The loss set the Spartans back to 8-9 overall, 6-3 in the Northern Athletics Conference, while Benedictine advances to 10-7 overall and 5-4 in the NAC.

AU looks ahead to Saturday’s home conference match against Rockford College at 4:15 p.m. in Thornton Gymnasium.