The Aurora University men's basketball team was upset in the semi-final round of the 2015-2016 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament on Friday night, falling to the No. 6 seeded Raiders of Milwaukee School of Engineering 100-96.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: #6 Milwaukee School of Engineering 100; #2 Aurora University 96
LOCATION: Aurora, Illinois – Thornton Gymnasium
RECORDS: Aurora University 20-6;  MSOE 15-12
 
SPARTAN STARTING LINE UP:
Guard: Tyler Hall
Guard: Nick Kladis
Guard: Jovon Griffin
Forward: Kalmon Stokes
Forward: Chris Fritsch
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Aurora jumped out to a 12-0 lead in the first half making five out of their first six shots in the opening three minutes.
MSOE responded and by the halfway mark in the first half the Spartans lead was cut to five, 28-23.
Late in the first half MSOE (2:45) tied the game at 42 but Aurora quickly retook the lead.
Aurora took a three-point lead into halftime after shooting 50-percent from the field.
The Spartans maintained a steady lead early on in the second half and were up 12 (73-61) just before the 10 minute mark.
MSOE went on a 17-7 run to cut the Aurora lead to two (80-78) with 7:30 to play.
AU went up six (92-86) with just over four minutes to play on back to back three's from Nick Kladis and Tyler Hall.
MSOE's Austin Stueck hit two three's of his own and shortly after the Raiders took their first lead of the game (94-92) with 2:07 left.
AU fought hard to retake the lead but MSOE held on in the final 36 seconds, making four of five free throws to seal the win.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
For the third consecutive time at home in Thornton Gymnasium the Spartans were out shot form the free throw line by a wide margin. MSOE finished the night 15-of-19 while AU was 4-of-6.
AU falls at home in the NACC Tournament for the second consecutive season.
MSOE's Austin Stueck went 10-of-12 from three-point range and had 42 points.
The loss marked the first time in five match-ups that MSOE was able to knock off AU in the NACC Tournament.
 
FOR THE SPARTANS
Nick Kladis had 29 points on 12-of-20 shooting from the field.
Kalmon Stokes had 19 points and seven rebounds.
Tyler Hall had 18 points and nine assists.
Chris Fritsch had nine points and eight rebounds.
 
SPARTAN TEAM LEADERS
Points: Nick Kladis (29)
Rebounds: Chris Fritsch (8)
Assists: Tyler Hall (9)
Steals: Jovon Griffin (2)
Blocks: Kalmon Stokes (3)
 
UP NEXT
The Spartan men's basketball team now must wait until Monday, February 29, 2016 when the NCAA Division III Tournament field is announced. The NCAA will announce the field of 64 at 11:30 a.m. To watch the selection show - click here