AU senior guard Adam McCoy led all scorers with 22 points and five rebounds. McCoy was 9 of 10 from the free throw line in the game, including three of four in the final 40 seconds to seal the game for the Spartans. Each team had four starters reach double figures, with Benedictine’s senior forward Marcus Jackson (16 points and 12 rebounds) and senior center Will Crawford (12 points and 15 rebounds) tallying double doubles on the evening.
Aurora freshman Larry Welton had a slow start to the night, going 1 of 14 from the field before hitting four of four from the field in the final 7:30 of the game. He finished with 14 points, five rebounds, three assists, and three steals, while senior forward Drew Gronau chipped in 12 points and four rebounds, and junior center Jeremy Cartwright had 11 points and eight rebounds.
Benedictine had 14 points and six assists out of senior guard Zach Ramey and 11 points and five rebounds from junior guard Matt Harrison.
Aurora shot 86.4% (19 of 22) from the free throw line in the game and forced 17 Benedictine turnovers, which led to 20 Spartan points. BU out rebounded the Spartans 55 to 42. Both teams played stellar defense on the night with Aurora shooting 35.2 percent (25 of 71) from the field and Benedictine shooting 40.6 percent (28 of 69) and just 41.7 percent (10 of 24) from the free throw line.
The Spartans improve to 14-3 overall; 4-0 in the NIIC, while Benedictine fell to 14-4 overall; 4-1 in the NIIC.
#17 Benedictine University Men vs Aurora University Men 1/26/05 7:30 p.m. at Aurora University Thornton Gymnasium AURORA UNIVERSITY MEN 73, #17 BENEDICTINE UNIVERSITY MEN 70 #17 BENEDICTINE UNIVERSITY MEN (14-3; 4-0 NIIC) JACKSON, Marcus 7-15 2-10 16; RAMEY, Zach 6-9 1-1 14; CRAWFORD, Will 6-11 0-0 12; HARRISON, Matt 3-10 3-3 11; AMELIANOVICH, Brice 3-4 1-2 7; SWANSON, Tim 1-4 2-4 5; HANSEN, Adam 1-1 1-4 3; FRANKLIN, Jimmy 1-7 0-0 2; DUNSMORE, Jordan 0-2 0-0 0; SHIMKUS, Mike 0-6 0-0 0. Totals 28-69 10-24 70. AURORA UNIVERSITY MEN (13-3; 3-0 NIIC) MCCOY, Adam 5-13 9-10 22; WELTON, Larry 5-18 4-5 14; GRONAU, Drew 3-12 6-7 12; CARTWRIGHT, Jeremy 5-9 0-0 11; CARSON, Courtney 4-10 0-0 8; CARSON, Tony 2-3 0-0 4; BURDEN, Aaron 1-2 0-0 2; ENGELHARDT, Luke 0-1 0-0 0; RAUCH, Jeremy 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 25-71 19-22 73. #17 Benedictine University Men 31 39 - 70 Aurora University Men......... 37 36 - 73 3-point goals-#17 Benedictine University Men 4-19 (HARRISON, Matt 2-7; SWANSON, Tim 1-2; RAMEY, Zach 1-4; FRANKLIN, Jimmy 0-1; SHIMKUS, Mike 0-5), Aurora University Men 4-21 (MCCOY, Adam 3-8; CARTWRIGHT, Jeremy 1-2; GRONAU, Drew 0-6; CARSON, Courtney 0-1; CARSON, Tony 0-1; BURDEN, Aaron 0-1; WELTON, Larry 0-2). Fouled out--#17 Benedictine University Men-None, Aurora University Men-CARSON, Courtney. Rebounds-#17 Benedictine University Men 55 (CRAWFORD, Will 15), Aurora University Men 42 (CARTWRIGHT, Jeremy 8). Assists-#17 Benedictine University Men 18 (RAMEY, Zach 6), Aurora University Men 13 (WELTON, Larry 3; CARTWRIGHT, Jeremy 3). Total fouls-#17 Benedictine University Men 17, Aurora University Men 17. A-1500