Rivalry night was on tap as the Spartans of Aurora University hosted the Benedictine Eagles on Wednesday, February 4 in AU's Thornton Gymnasium. The Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference match-up between the top two teams in the NACC standings lived up to the traditional hype with the Spartans falling in overtime 99-94.
 

The crowd was hyped and Thornton Gymnasium was at near capacity for what would end up being a thrilling match up between these long time rivals. The game started back and forth as neither the Spartans nor the Eagles were able to take a strong lead. Three minutes into the game the Spartans and the Eagles were tied 6-6.

The Spartans struggled on the boards throughout much of the first half and this fueled a 10-2 Benedictine run to trail 16-8 several minutes later. Following a Spartan 30-second timeout, AU junior Garret Williams sank a three-point field goal that set off a Spartan 13-4 run to pull the game within one (20-19). It was another Williams three that brought the score 20-19.
 

AU senior Kyle Pilmer tied the game at 252-25 when he laid the ball up with 8:45 left in the half. From here on the Spartans continued to do battle with the visiting Eagles, eventually pulling out to their first and largest lead of the game at eight (40-32) with 2:10 to play off of a layup from sophomore Phil Schuetz.

The Eagles pushed back against the Spartan going on a run of 9-4 to finish the half with the Spartans leading 44-41. AU junior Tyler Hall led all scorers in the first-half with 12 points but AU was out-rebounded 19-14.

The Spartans came out of the locker room like a team on a mission, working to open up a 13-point lead. Junior Kalmon Stokes started it all off with a three and later in the run, in what has become typical of Stokes, he delivered a booming slam dunk to break the Spartans lead to 10. Seniors Gavin Walker and Brandon Smith continued the streak with three-point shots of their own. With five minutes gone in the second-half, AU led 59-46.

A little over two minutes later, Williams drained his fourth three of the game to give AU a 12-point advantage at 63-51. The Eagles though took to the glass though and willed their way back into the game. BU went on a 14-0 run over the next three minutes and with a lay-up by AU's Smith, the game was tied at 65-65 with 8:55 on the clock.

As the game clock wound down, the two bitter rivals shared the lead seven times and the lead changed hands five more times. With 1:59 to play, the Eagles took a 83-80 lead as they were aided by two offensive rebounds before an eventual lay-up.

But the veteran Spartans answered immediately with Hall draining a three in front of the AU bench to tie the game up at 83-83. Following a BU turnover. Hall gave the Spartans the lead with 20 seconds left and with an Eagle timeout with 10 seconds to play the score was 85-83. On the inbounds play, the Eagles once again turned the ball over, giving the Spartans the ball with 4.8 seconds to play.

Seconds from victory, the Spartans looked to inbound the ball in front of the AU student-section. But an errant in-bounds pass from AU's Walker ended up in the hands of Eagle guard John Dodson and he capitalized, tossing a shot up from just inside the three-point line tying the game at 85-85 as time expired. 
 

The first four minutes of the overtime session played out just like the final nine minutes of the second-half had gone, with both teams trading baskets. AU started the overtime as Pilmer scored a quick layup. With 57 seconds left Hall went one for two from the free-throw line to bring the score to 95-94 BU. AU missed on shot attempts in the final minute while the Eagles executed at the free-throw line ending the tensions and the game with a score of 99-94 in favor of Benedictine.