The Aurora University men's basketball team put on an offensive showcase Wednesday night, hosting Concordia University Chicago in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference matchup. Cullen Rauls sparked the Spartans with 25 first-half points as AU jumped out early and cruised to a 101–79 win.


FINAL SCORE: Aurora University 101, Concordia University Chicago 79
LOCATION: Thornton Gymnasium - Aurora, Illinois
RECORDS: Aurora University 14-3 overall and 9-1 in the NACC; Concordia University Wisconsin 6-11 overall and 5-5 in the NACC


- After going down by two in the first minute, Spartan Mekhi Doby put AU in the lead and they never looked back.
- Over the next five minutes, AU went on a 17-3 run, capped off by a huge Cullen Rauls three. Now leading 21-7.
- For three minutes in the middle of the first half, Rauls would lead the Spartans with eight points off of two three-point baskets, putting his total so far at 18 points with nine minutes remaining in the half.
- Heading into the final media timeout of the half, buckets from Doby and Jeffery Hillmer took the Spartans lead to 23, now leading 46-23 with three minutes left in the half.
- AU's half was capped off by a Rauls fast break layup to bring his total for 25, and lead the Spartans into halftime up 54-30.
- Cullen Rauls and Mekhi Doby led the way in scoring with 25 and 13 points respectively, shooting a combined 7 of 12 from behind the arc. 
- Hillmer opened the second half with a layup to keep the momentum going for AU.
- With 13 minutes remaining in the half, Zerrick Johnson scored eight of the next nine Spartan points to take the AU advantage to 78-52.
- A breakaway dunk from Hillmer with nine minutes left kept the Spartan advantage at 26.
- The largest AU lead of the night came when Mekhi Doby put it in off the glass to extend the lead to 28 points.
- Another Hillmer dunk off of Cougar turnover with three minutes to go, put his point total at 18.
- Josh Tinney scored the last basket of the game as time expired with a layup.
- AU would defeat the Cougars 101-79.

 
Points: Cullen Rauls (31), Mekhi Doby (25), Jeffery Hillmer (18), and Zerrick Johnson (10)
Assists: Mekhi Doby (10)
Rebounds: Devon Richardson (14) and Jeffery Hillmer (10)
Steals: Mekhi Doby, Jeffery Hillmer, and Josh Tinney (2)
Blocks: Jeffery Hillmer (4)


Next action for the Spartan men's basketball team comes on Saturday when they head to Lakeland University. Tip-off is set for 3:15pm in Plymouth, Wisconsin.