Spartan men clinch NAC South Division Championship with 80-70 win

Spartans celebrate the 80-70 win over Benedictine

Box Score

The Aurora University men's basketball team defeated rival Benedictine University Tuesday evening by a score of 80-70 in front of a packed Thornton Gymnasium crowd. The win gave the Spartans the

2012-2013 Northern Athletics Conference South Division title.

The Spartans came out with the hot hand early as senior Mike Bumber drained a corner pocket three-pointer just nine seconds into the game and AU would never look back.

As the hot start continued, AU was a perfect five-for-five from the field with just two minutes into the game and led 14-5. Marious Lobdell and Bumber had the hot hands to begin the game with 9 of the first 14 points.

AU built a 12 point lead with 14:32 to play when freshman Kalmon Stokes hit a three-point field goal to give the Spartans a 23-11 advantage.

After a Spartan Scott Laskowski lay-up gave the Spartans a 14-point lead with 12:37 to play, the visiting

Eagles began to battle back. Benedictine would cut the score down to five (31-26) with a quick 5 points by Jamison Montgomery with 10 minutes left in the half.

The host Spartans were able to build the lead back to double digits and maintain a comfortable lead for the remainder of the first-half.

The Spartans led at half by a score of 56-46 with Scott Laskowski leading the Spartans with 10 points on five-of-seven shooting from the floor. For BU, Jamison Montgomery led with 10 points, four assists and two steals.

The Eagles came out strong starting the second half with two quick layups by Tim McGinty bringing the score to 58-53 in favor of the Spartans, but that would not foreshadow the rest of the half. The

Spartans quickly started building the margin back to double-digits with senior Mark Adams contributing two lay-ups and junior Jordan hester with a lay-up of his own bringing the score to 69-57 with 10:59 to play.

AU would not let the visiting Eagles to get any closer than eight points over the final 11 minutes of play and cruised to the 80-70 victory.

Laskowski led the Spartans with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Hester and Marious Lobdell each added 12 points. BU was led by Montogomery's 13 points, five assists and four rebounds.

The Spartans improved their record to 11-1 in the Northern Athletics Conference and 16-5 overall while the struggling Eagles fall to 2-10 in NAC and 4-17 overall. The next action for the Spartans is Saturday, February 2, when they travel to Lakeland College. Tip-off is set for 4:15 p.m. in Sheboygan, Wis.

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