Just one night after shocking the NCAA Division III basketball world with what many are calling the greatest Division III Tournament upset ever, the Aurora University Spartans returned to the Washington University, St. Louis court to take on Nebraska Wesleyan University in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The battle from the previous night seemed to have an impact on the legs against NWU as AU saw their season end with an 82-61 loss.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE:  Nebraska Wesleyan University 82, Aurora University 61
LOCATION: St. Louis, Missouri
RECORDS: Aurora University 20-9; Nebraska Wesleyan University 26-3

HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Spartans jumped out to a 4-0 lead but weary legs for both teams seemed to be a factor and with 10 minutes to play in the first-half, the score was 13-13.
- AU finished the half on a 5-0 run and headed into halftime down four at 28-24.
- Both teams struggled from the field in the first-half with AU shooting 9-30 from the field and NWU going 8-26
- Early in the second, a 7-0 AU run fueled by two layups from Marcus Myers and a three from Max Vickers gave the Spartans a 33-32 lead.
- The lead was short lived though as NWU ran off a 14-0 run behind numerous three's and led 46-33.
- When Vickers hit a three midway through the second, AU was down 11 at 58-47.
- AU struggled with the 3-2 zone run by NWU and as baskets didn't fall, a 16-0 run by NWU pushed the AU deficit to 74-47 with 5:30 left in the game.
- The Spartans battled in the final five minutes but had left everything on the court and would go on to fall 82-61.
 
FOR THE SPARTANS
- Max Vickers had a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds
- Marcus Myers had 17 points and finishes his career in 31st all-time in scoring with 1,044 points.
- Ty Carlson had 13 points, six rebounds and four assists
 
SPARTAN STAT LEADERS
POINTS: Marcus Myers (17), Max Vickers (15) and Ty Carlson (13)
REBOUNDS: Max Vickers (12)
ASSISTS: Matt Dunn (6) and Ty Carlson (4)
STEALS: Marcus Myers and Pat Kramp (1)
 
UP NEXT
The Spartan men's basketball team has the 2017-2018 season come to an end in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.