The Aurora University Spartans, making their fourth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championships
, were unable to overcome the home court advantage possessed by the Carthage College Red men in the 2010 NCAA Division III Championships Friday evening in Kenosha, Wis.
The Spartans concluded the 2009-2010 season with a 84-70 loss to Carthage before a packed Tarble Arena crowd in Kenosha.
AU fell behind after an early tie (2-2) but remained within striking distance of the No. 14 ranked (per D3Hoops.com) Red men thanks to the strong first half performance of senior guards
Ari Iventosch (15 points on seven-of-eight shooting from the field) and
Dusty Magee (13 points on four-of-eight shooting from the field).
The Spartans were within four points with four seconds to play in the opening half but Carthage junior guard Steve Djurickovic's lay-up at the buzzer gave the Red men a six point halftime lead at 38-32. Djurickovic led Carthage with 10 first half points.
The Spartans opened up the second half on a three-point field goal by Iventosch that cut the lead to five (40-35) but Carthage responded with an 8-0 run that gave the hosts a commanding 13 point lead at 48-35.
The Spartans battled back a
nd cut the Carthage lead to seven (52-45) with 13:33 to play in the second half but that is as close as the Spartans would get the remainder of the way.
The home court advantage for Carthage was just a little too much to overcome for the veteran Spartans as another Carthage run, this time a 9-2 run, pushed the lead up to 14 points with 10 minutes to play.
AU was unable to get the lead under double-digits the remainder of the contest with Carthage holding on to the 84-70 win in the end.
The Spartans were led by Iventosch's game-high 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field, senior forward
Shane Roland had 15 points and five rebounds, Magee had 14 points, junior guard
Damian Lewis had 10 points and six rebounds off the AU bench and senior forward
Lance Robinson had seven rebounds, six assists and four points.
Despite the loss, AU has made four consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournament, five in six seasons, six in eight and eight since 1997-1998.
