The Aurora University men's basketball team hosted the third annual MS Day as they welcomed the Milwaukee School of Engineering Raiders to Lancaster Court in Thornton Gymnasium. The lively crowd saw the Spartans run away from the Raiders to a 90-81 victory.
 
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE:  Aurora University 90; Milwaukee School of Engineering 81
LOCATION: Aurora, Illinois - Lancaster Court in Thornton Gymnasium
RECORDS: Aurora University 14-7; 12-4 NACC; Milwaukee School of Engineering 8-11; 7-8 NACC
ATTENDANCE: 602
 
BEYOND THE BOX
AU moves to 3-0 in AU MS Day games, including 2-0 against MSOE.
With the victory, AU clinched a spot in the upcoming Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament.
The 11th NACC Tournament appearance makes the Spartan men the only NACC men's team to appear in all 11 tournaments.
At halftime, AU recognized the 2016 NACC Championship winning football team.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The opening 20 minutes of action was a frantic back and forth pace with the teams changing leads 17 times with the game also being tied on nine other occasions.
A lay-up from Marcus Myers gave the Spartans a 48-46 lead heading into halftime.
Both teams shot above 54 percent in the first-half with Myers leading the Spartans with 14 points and Collin Seubert from MSOE tallying 21.
The second-half opened up with a 10-1 MSOE run and AU found themselves down seven at 56-49.
AU would answer with a 9-0 run of their own as Jordan LaGrone scored five points. With 11:47 to play, AU led 58-56.
After MSOE regained the lead 59-58, the Spartans turned up the tempo on defense and the three ball started to drop.
Back to back three's from Pat Kramp and Ty Carlson forced a Raider timeout.
The run continued and would build to a 20-4 run. With 4:15 to go, AU held the games largest lead of 15 at 78-63.
In the final minutes, the Raiders hit some three's of their own to cut into the AU lead but the Spartans knocked down their free throws going five-of-six to secure the nine point win at 90-81.

FOR THE SPARTANS
Marcus Myers had 21 points, seven assists and six steals.
Ty Carlson 16 points  and seven rebounds.
Jordan LaGrone had 16 points on six-of-seven from the field and three-of-four from three-point range.
Matt Dunn had 11 points and four assists.
Pat Kramp had 10 points on three-of-four from three-point range.
 
SPARTAN STAT LEADERS
Points: Marcus Myers (21), Ty Carlson (16), Jordan LaGrone (16), Matt Dunn (11) and Pat Kramp (10)
Assists: Marcus Myers (7) and Matt Dunn (4)
Rebounds: Ty Carlson (7) and Max Vickers (4)
Steals: Marcus Myers (6)
 
UP NEXT
Next action for the Spartan men's basketball team comes on Wednesday, February 8 when they host Dominican University. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. on Lancaster Court in Thornton Gymnasium.