The Aurora University men's basketball team hosted Senior Night and defeated the Rockford University Regents 112-92 on Wednesday. AU clinched the No. 2 seed, an opening round bye and a home Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament game in the tournament that will begin next week.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Aurora University 112, Rockford University 92
LOCATION: Aurora, Illinois – Thornton Gymnasium
RECORDS: Aurora University 19-5; 15-4 NACC; Rockford University 13-11; 9-10 NACC
 
SPARTAN STARTING LINE UP:
Guard: Tyler Hall
Guard: Nick Kladis
Guard: Jovon Griffin
Forward: Kalmon Stokes
Forward: Chris Fritsch

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Spartans and Regents both traded baskets over the first three minutes of the play in first half. With 17:05 on the game clock, AU led 12-11.
A layup from senior Chris Fritsch started a 15-3 run to put the Spartans up 27-14 with just 13:24 remaining in the first half.
AU continued to score at will and pushed the lead past 20 points (47-26) with 5:30 to play.
The Spartans largest lead of the half (and game) came with 3:52 to play (55-30) on a lay-up from Matt Dunn.
Senior Nick Kladis would drain a three on AU's last possession of the half to put the Spartans up 61-40 heading to the locker room.
The Spartans kept the hot hand going coming into the second half hitting shots the first two possessions to bring the Spartans lead to 65-40, tying the biggest lead of the game.
Rockford managed to cut the lead down to 15 with 11:37 to play but that was as close as they would get to AU.
The Spartans quickly rebuilt the lead back past 20 points and maintained that advantage throughout the rest of hte second half.
When the final horn sounded, AU defeated the Regents 112-92

BEYOND THE BOX
AU clinched the No. 2 seed, an opening round bye and a home NACC Tournament game on Friday, February 26, 2016 with the win.

FOR THE SPARTANS
Senior Tyler Hall had a double-double with 22 points and 10 assists.
Senior Nick Kladis had 22 points on 6-of-10 shooting from three-point range.
Senior Chris Fritsch had 18 points and eight rebounds.
Jovon Griffin had 16 points.
Jeremy LaGrone had 10 points.
Senior Kalmon Stokes had nine points.

SPARTAN TEAM LEADERS
Points: Tyler Hall and Nick Kladis - 22
Rebounds: Chris Fritsch - 8
Assists: Hall - 10
Steals: Hall - 3
Blocks: Kalmon Stokes - 2

UP NEXT
Next action for the Spartan men's basketball team comes on Saturday, February 20, 2016 when they travel to Edgewood College. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. in Madison, Wisconsin.