The Aurora University Spartans hosted the visiting Scarlet Hawks of Illinois Institute of Technology on Friday, January 30. The Spartans brought a commanding performance beating the Hawks 101-38, finishing the final 13 minutes of the game only allowing two points by the visitors.
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The Spartans started the game strong with a 12-6 run in the first six minutes of the game. The Spartans and the Scarlet Hawks continued to do battle for the next several minutes as possessions went back and forth.
With 10 minutes left in the first half and the Spartans leading 21-11, AU came alive to break the game open. Spartan three-point ace
Nick Kladis began the Spartan surge with back to back three's and
Kalmon Stokes quickly followed with a booming Alley Oop dunk assisted by
Gavin Walker. Kaldis finished the opening half five-for-five from beyond the arc and six-of-six overall. The Spartans dominating 23-3 run left the trailing Scarlet Hawks down 41-14 with 3:35 remaining in the half.
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The Spartans coasted their way into halftime, leading by 27 at 48-21. Kladis had 17 points in 11 minutes and all 16 Spartans saw minutes with Kladis being the only player in double-digit minutes. IIT's Samuel Rarick had 14 of the visitors 21 points in the half.
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The Spartans came out of the locker room hot as
Cody Carter swished a three-point shot only 13 seconds into the half. The Spartans continued to suppress the Scarlet Hawks building their lead as the second half trudged on. With 13:03 remaining in the game, AU led 68-36 and began what would end up as a 33-2 run to end the game.
For the next eight minutes of the game the Spartans showed true dominance defensively with a 21-0 run leaving the Scarlet Hawks trailing 89-36 with 5:50 left in the game.
As the final horn sounded with a 101-38 Spartan win, AU improved to 16-5 overall and 13-3 in the NACC.
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The Spartans grabbed 46 rebounds and shot 49.3-percent from the field on the night with 15 of 16 Spartans scoring a point and 15 of 16 grabbing a rebound. AU had 21 assists on 33 made field goals and also had 23 steals. The Spartans stayed true to fundamentals by posting an 80-percent (23-of-29) free throw percentage. Four Spartans scored in double-figures, led by Kladis (17 points),
Phil Schuetz (12 points),
Tyler Hall (10 points) and
Denzel Irving (10 points and seven rebounds). No Spartan played more than 18 minutes of game action.
Next action for the Spartan men's basketball team comes on
Wednesday, February 4, 2015 when they host Benedictine University. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. in Thornton Gymnasium.
