Aurora University men's basketball senior Tyler Carlson had a career night as he led the Spartans to a 97-84 victory over the Cougars of Concordia University Chicago. With his final free-throw of the night, Carlson tallied 37 points and his 1,000th career point to become the 34th member of the Spartan men's basketball 1,000-point club.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Aurora University 97, Concordia University Chicago 84
LOCATION: Lancaster Court in Thornton Gymnasium - Aurora, Illinois
RECORDS: Aurora University 5-7 overall and 3-4 in the NACC; Concordia University Chicago 2-9 overall and 2-6 in the NACC

HOW IT HAPPENED
-  AU fell behind early to a hot shooting Cougar squad who led the Spartans 12-4 with 15:30 left in the first-half.
- The Spartans used a 15-2 run over a span of four minutes to grab the lead for good at 24-18. Rashad Johnson and Tyler Carlson combined for 13 of the 15 points in the run.
- Fueled by a three-point frenzy from Johnson, the Spartans built their lead to 11 at 35-24 with 7:45 left.
- Heading to halftime, the Spartans led 54-44 behind a 10-of-16 shooting performance from the three-point arc. Rashad Johnson was a perfect five-of-five while Tyler Carlson went three-of-five.
- In the second-half, the Spartans built their lead to 15 on several ocassions but the Cougars battled back with AU holding a lead that never got closer than seven.
- The turning point in the contest came with 7:11 to play when Jesse Young drained a three just before the shot clock expired to expand the AU lead back to 11 at 79-68.
- The Young three ignited an 8-0 run that pushed the Spartans lead to a game-high 16 points at 84-68.
- With 36 seconds left in the game, Tyler Carlson stepped back to the free-throw line needing one point to reach 1,000 in his career. He sank the first of two to become the 34th Spartan men's basketball player to reach 1,000 points in a career.
- AU would go on to win 97-84.
 
TOP SPARTAN PERFORMERS
- Tyler Carlson had a game-high 37 points on 14-of-20 from the field and 5-of-9 from three-point range. He reached 1,000 points for his career in the game.
- Jesse Young had 21 points and seven rebounds.
- Rashad Johnson had 20 points and six rebounds.

SPARTAN GAME STAT LEADERS
POINTS: Tyler Carlson (37), Jesse Young (21) and Rashad Johnson (20)
REBOUNDS: Jarek Hotwagner (9) and Jesse Young (7) 
ASSISTS: Tyler Carlson and Jarek Hotwagner (4) 
STEALS: Jesse Young and De`Ante Walker (2)

UP NEXT
Next action for the Spartan men's basketball team comes on Saturday, January 5 when they travel to Rockford University. Game time is set for 4:15 p.m. in Rockford, Illinois.