In the 144th meeting between the men's basketball program's of Aurora University and Benedictine University, another classic was in store for the rival fans at Lancaster Court in Thornton Gymnasium. AU would see the #12 Eagles run out to a big lead in the first-half and trail yb 19 at halftime before embarking on a second-half come back that had the game tied in the final seconds before a buzzer beating three-point field goal by BU's Adam Reynolds saw the Spartans fall 96-93.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE:  #12 Benedictine University 96, Aurora University 93
LOCATION: Aurora, Illinois – Lancaster Court in Thornton Gymnasium
RECORDS: Aurora University 6-3; 4-1 NACC; #12 Benedictine University 7-2; 5-0 NACC
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Spartans scored the first basket of the game but found themselves down 12-6 just three minutes into the game.
• After missing the first three-point attempt of the game, Benedictine went on to make their next 10 straight and AU trailed by 23 (51-28) with over four minutes to play in the first-half.
• The Spartans answered with a 6-0 run to cut the lead down to 17 before heading to halftime trailing 58-37.
• AU shot 41-percent for the half but saw the Eagles shoot a light out 71.4 percent (10-14) from three point range and 58.3-percent from the field.
• Coming out of halftime, AU saw BU lead by 20 just over two minutes into the second-half but the come back had begun.
• An 11-3 run capped off by a Jordan LaGrone three pulled the Spartans within 12 (66-54) with 15 minutes still on the clock.
• Three minutes later, AU saw the deficit cut to single digits when Max Vickers hit a three, AU's third in the second-half.
• With 7:05 to go, a lay-up from Jovonn Griffin cut the AU deficit to five (78-73) forcing a Benedictine timeout. As the teams came off the court though a technical foul was called on the Spartans giving BU two free-throws pushing the lead back to seven at 80-73.
• The Spartans kept coming at the highly ranked Eagles and wth 51 seconds left, trailed by three (93-90) as the defensive intensity picked up for the Spartans.
• With 13 seconds to play, Spartan Marcus Myers hit a lay-up and was fouled with the score now 93-92 Benedictine. Myers missed the free-throw but Vickers got the rebound and was fouled, putting him at the free-throw line.
• Vickers made the first free-throw to tie the game but missed the second with Benedictine grabbing the rebound.
• BU's Tahron Harvey brought the ball over half court and drew a crowd, with the remaining time running down, looked to travel but no call allowed him to find Adam Reynolds who hit a 25-footer (three-pointer) with .2 seconds left.

 
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• In the 40^th match-up between the teams since the 2000-2001 season, the teams are now 20-20 against each other.
• AU overcame a 19-point halftime deficit and 21 point second-half deficit to tie the game late.

 
FOR THE SPARTANS

• All five starters scored in double figures.
• Marcus Myers led the team with game high 26 points and four rebounds.
• Max Vickers had a team high nine rebounds with 15 points.
• Ty Carlson scored 15 points with four assists and four rebounds
• Jovonn Griffin scored 12 points with six assists.
• Jordan LaGrone had 11 points off the AU bench.
• Pat Kramp had 10 points.

 
SPARTAN STAT LEADERS

• POINTS: Marcus Myers (26), Max Vickers and Ty Carlson (15), Jovonn Griffin (12),  Jordan LaGrone (11) and Pat Kramp (10)
• REBOUNDS: Max Vickers (9), Marcus Myers, Ty Carlson and Jovonn Griffin (4)
• ASSISTS: Jovonn Griffin (6) and Ty Carlson (4)
• STEALS: Jovonn Griffin and Marcus Myers (1)

 
UP NEXT

• Next action for the Spartan men's basketball team comes on Saturday, December 17 when they host Lakeland University. Game time is set for 4:15 p.m. on Lancaster Court in Thornton Gymnasium.