The first half of this contest was "bombs away" as the two teams combined for 17 three-point baskets. Aurora's Dusty Magee and Concordia's Ryan Young each hit five treys, and the Spartans would finish the half with a 45-41 lead.
The second half saw both teams bring their offense inside the arc, wih Aurora hitting just 2-13 while Concordia went 0-6. In the end, it would be the defending NIIC Player of the Year making the difference as Larry Welton scored 10 second-half points and pulled down seven rebounds. Welton would score five straight points after Concordia had cut the deficit to a single point at 48-47. The Cougars would never take the lead in the second half, although they managed to stay within single digits for most of that time.
Welton finished with 23 points and nine boards, while Magee ended up with 19 points. Luke Engelhardt came off the bench to add 10 points.
Concordia was led by Young's 19, giving the freshman guard a total of 51 points in the Cougars' two games against Aurora this season. Kas Wleklinski added 14 points off the bench, and Bobby Smith chipped in with 13 points and nine rebounds.
Newspaper Box Score Aurora University vs Concordia (IL) University 02/11/06 3p at River Forest, IL - Geiseman Gymnasium At River Forest, IL - Geiseman Gymnasium AURORA UNIVERSITY 81, CONCORDIA (IL) UNIVERSITY 72 AURORA UNIVERSITY (14-9, 7-1 NIIC) WELTON, Larry 6-12 9-13 23; MAGEE, Dusty 7-17 0-2 19; ENGELHARDT, Luke 4-9 0-0 10; TRUDO, Chad 3-8 2-3 9; CARTWRIGHT, Jeremy 4-9 0-1 8; RAUCH, Jeremy 3-4 1-2 7; LAMBERT, Doug 1-7 2-2 5; BEHMER, Rusty 0-0 0-0 0; GULLICKSON, Erik 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-67 14-23 81. CONCORDIA (IL) UNIVERSITY (8-15, 3-5 NIIC) YOUNG, Ryan 6-13 2-3 19; WLEKLINSKI, Kas 5-12 3-5 14; SMITH, Bobby 6-12 1-4 13; MIKRUT, David 3-4 1-2 9; BELL, Lafeyette 2-8 5-6 9; GRAY, Justin 2-8 2-5 6; GANEK, Bryan 1-3 0-0 2; WARD, Ryan 0-0 0-0 0; TRIMBLE, David 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-60 14-25 72. Aurora University............. 45 36 - 81 Concordia (IL) University..... 41 31 - 72 3-point goals-Aurora University 11-34 (MAGEE, Dusty 5-12; ENGELHARDT, Luke 2-5; WELTON, Larry 2-4; TRUDO, Chad 1-6; LAMBERT, Doug 1-6; CARTWRIGHT, Jeremy 0-1), Concordia (IL) University 8-22 (YOUNG, Ryan 5-11; MIKRUT, David 2-2; WLEKLINSKI, Kas 1-4; GRAY, Justin 0-1; GANEK, Bryan 0-1; BELL, Lafeyette 0-3). Fouled out--Aurora University-CARTWRIGHT, Jeremy, Concordia (IL) University-None. Rebounds-Aurora University 42 (WELTON, Larry 9), Concordia (IL) University 40 (YOUNG, Ryan 9; SMITH, Bobby 9). Assists-Aurora University 14 (MAGEE, Dusty 6), Concordia (IL) University 14 (GRAY, Justin 6). Total fouls-Aurora University 18, Concordia (IL) University 19. A-400