The Aurora University Spartans defeated the Wisconsin Lutheran College Warriors 80-75 Wednesday night in a key Northern Athletics Conference South Division matchup.
On a cold snowy night, the Spartans and Warriors struggled to find the basket early in the first half. The Spartans were able to build a slim 10-7 lead at the thirteen minute mark behind four junior forward Skyler Ormsbee points.
Following a Warrior timeout, the Spartans exploded offensively, as they strung together a 13-3 run behind the hot shooting of seniors: forward Shane Roland and guard Dusty Magee to extend the lead to 23-10 at the midway point of the first half.
In the Spartan run, Roland knocked down two free throws with 12:33 to play in the half. The two points gave him 1,000 on his career and making him the 29th member of the Spartan 1,000 point club.
The Warriors were able to trim the Spartan lead to single digits, as they capitalized off a number of Spartan turnovers to cut th
e score 34-29 with three minutes left.
The Spartans would take a five point lead into halftime, with a 39-34 advantage.
Top Spartan performers for the half included Roland, who led all scorers with 12 points and senior guard Lance Robinson, who added six points and six rebounds.
Warrior Sam Siemers led the visitors with nine first half points. The Spartans shot just 14.3% (2-of-14) from three-point range but were able to take advantage of 10 offensive rebounds, while the Warriors were 4-of-10 from three-point range and had 13 first-half turnovers.
Early in the second half, the Warriors were able to tie the Spartans at 43-43 behind a 9-4 run to open
up the half.
Warrior senior guard Kyle Madson led the way, tallying seven of the nine points for the visitors.
Following an Aurora timeout, the Spartans quickly regained the lead behind baskets by senior guard Ari Iventosch and Roland, making the score 47-43 with thirteen minutes left.
The Warriors grabbed a quick lead with 12:30 to play (their first since leading 7-6 early in the contest) after a three-point basket by freshman guard Kaleb Buch.
The Spartans responded by building a five point lead twice with over eight minutes of action to go but the Warriors would get within two points with eight minutes remaining, cutting the score to 66-64 on a senior guard Ben Ziesemer three-pointer.
The Warriors would take the lead from the host Spartans with over 4:30 to play in the contest, making the score 70-68 and over the next minute the two teams traded baskets and the lead.
Yet the Spartans would regain lead at the three minute mark behind a three pointer by Magee, giving AU a 75-73 lead and a lead they would not relinquish.
Aurora led by two (77-75) with 1:54 to play and with both teams missin
g opportunities at the respective ends of the floor, the game took a script that many in the Thornton Gymnasium crowd would expect. Coming out of a timeout by Spartan Head Coach James Lancaster, the Spartans found the shot clock quickly running down and the ball in Lance Robinson hands. With three seconds on the shot clock and 17 seconds on the game clock Robinson attempted a three pointer, just his sixth of the season, that tickled the twine and giving the Spartans a commanding 80-75 lead.
After a missed jumper by the Warriors and a rebound by Ormsbee, Wisconsin Lutheran was forced to quickly commit four consecutive fouls to get the Spartans to the free throw line and winding down precious seconds.
AU held on to the 80-75 victory and brought the wild NAC south division race even closer.
Top Spartan performers included Roland (20 points), Robinson (15 points and nine rebounds), Magee (11 points), Iventosch (10 points and seven assists) and Ormsbee (10 points).
The Warriors were led by Madson (16 points), Ziesemer (16 points), Alex Merbach (13 points and 11 rebounds) and Siemers (11 points).
With the win, the Spartans improve to 9-9 (6-5 NAC) while the Warriors fall to 6-10 (5-4 NAC).
Next action for the Spartans comes on Saturday, January 27, when they host Northern Athletics Conference rival Marian University. Game time is set for 4:15 p.m. The contest will be part of a Saturday doubleheader with the Spartan women’s basketball team, who will be in action at 2:00 p.m.