Benedictine (19-5, 9-2 NIIC), which made its way back into the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll this week, stayed within a game of first-place Aurora University with the victory. The two teams will meet in the final game of the regular-season, with the top seed in next week's NIIC Tournament and home court advantage throughout the event on the line.
Amelianovich scored the first six points of the game, and converted a pair of conventional three-point plays to stake the Eagles to a 14-4 lead just more than four minutes into the game. Concordia got its deficit under double figures on a Bernard Middleton jumper on its next possession, but Jimmy Franklin scored back-to-back baskets and Marcus Jackson added a score to push the Eagles' advantage to 20-6. Benedictine led by double figures the rest of the way.
The Eagles used a 19-5 run, fueled by seven points from Jackson and five from Matt Harrison, to push their lead to 25 (42-17) in the latter stages of the first half. They settled for a 48-26 advantage at the break.
After Concordia cut its deficit to 18 (54-36) four minutes into the second half, the Eagles rattled off of a 13-2 run to extend their lead to 29; Amelianovich started the spurt with a pair of baskets. A 3-pointer from Tim Swanson put the Eagles up by 30 (72-42) for the first time of the night with nine minutes remaining, and a Justin Glembin basket with four minutes left gave Benedictine its largest lead of the night (84-47).
Amelianovich hit 8-of-10 shots from the field in his career night. He was joined in double figures by Jackson, who made 7-of-9 shots and scored 15 points, and Harrison, who collected 14 points, six assists and five steals. All but one of 13 Eagles who played in the game scored, and Benedictine shot 60.3 percent from the field for the game (35-58).
Concordia was led by Bobby Smith's 16 points, while Middleton added 12. The Cougars committed 26 turnovers in the loss.
Benedictine will close the regular season by hosting 24th-ranked Aurora on Saturday, Feb. 19. The Eagles will look to avenge a 73-70 loss to the Spartans earlier in the season.