The Aurora University men's basketball team hosted Marian University for the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference tournament championship game on Saturday night. Both teams fought tooth and nail for 40 minutes, but the Spartans reigned victorious to advance to the NCAA National tournament. AU defeated Marian 67-66 and hoisted the NACC tournament championship trophy.


FINAL SCORE: Aurora University 67, Marian University 66
LOCATION: Thornton Gymnasium, Aurora, Illinois
RECORDS: Aurora University 23-5 overall ; Marian University 17-11 overall 


- AU wins the programs first NACC tournament title since the 2018-2019 season.
- The Spartans will head to the NCAA Division III tournament for the 12th time in program history.


- From the onset of this NACC men's basketball championship game, both teams were scrapping for any lead.
- Marian took the advantage early when they had their largest lead of the contest just four minutes in. they led 12-5.
- Seven straight Juan Madrigal points put AU right back into this game.
- Cullen Rauls tacked on three points of his own with a three-pointer to make it now a 10-0 Spartan run.
- Back and forth action for the rest of the half ended with a 15-5 run for the Spartans.
- That sent them into halftime up 40-31 over the Sabres.
- Rauls and Madrigal both ended the half in the double-digits for points, going a combined 3-3 from beyond the arc.
 - Devon Richardson led the way with ten rebounds.
- AU started off slow in the second half, as Marian went on a 9-3 run to bring it within one directly following the under 16 media timeout.
- More back and forth action saw that neither team had more than a four point lead for the next 8 minutes of game time when Marian got out to a six point lead. 
- The Sabres maintained a small lead until two Mehki Doby free throws with 17 seconds remaining put AU up by one.
- Great Spartan defense in the final second secured that one-point lead till the clock hit zero.
- The Spartans won the men's basketball NACC title game, 67-66.
 
 
Points: Cullen Rauls (22), Juan Madrigal and Jeffery Hillmer (15)
Assists: Jeffery Hillmer (3)
Rebounds: Devon Richardson (17)
Steals: Cullen Rauls (3)
Blocks: Devon Richardson (6)

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Next action for the Spartan men's basketball team comes on Monday, March 2, 2026 when they learn the location and opponent for the 2025-2026 NCAA Division III Tournament. The selection show will be at 12:00 p.m. On NCAA.com.