With the victory, Lancaster surpassed the legendary Don Holler for the most wins as men’s Head Coach in AU history. Holler was 207-154 in 14 years as the Head Coach of the Spartan men’s program before Lancaster succeeded him in 1994.
In tonight’s contest, the visiting Red Devils hung with the Spartans for the first 10 minutes of the contest and leading 17-13 with just over 12 minutes left on the opening half before AU opened the flood gates and took a commanding 20-point lead to halftime (57-37).
AU led by as many as 32 points in the contest and shot 52.2 percent (36-69) from the field. The Spartans were led by sophomore forward Larry Welton’s game-high 33 points and seven rebounds. Joining Welton as AU offensive leaders were sophomore guard Luke Engelhardt (13 points), sophomore forward Doug Lambert (12 points) and senior forward Jeremy Rauch (11 points and six rebounds).
Eureka shot 37.2 percent (29-78) from the field and out-rebounded the Spartans 47-44. AJ Richard led the way with 16 points and Tim Peffer had 12 points and six rebounds.
During his tenure as the men's head coach, Lancaster has amassed a composite record of 208-95 (.687), which is the highest winning percentage of any men's basketball coach at AU. Entering the 2005-2006 season, Lancaster was 27th in wins among the NCAA men’s basketball active coaches and 31st in wins all-time. His Spartans won back-to-back titles in the Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference in 1996-1997 and 1998-1999 and again in 2003-2004 and 2004-2005. He also led the men's program to their first ever NCAA Division III playoff appearance in 1998 and his team once again repeated that performance in 2001, 2002 and 2005. In 2005, AU hosted their first NCAA men’s basketball tournament game.
Lancaster was named NIIC Coach of the Year a total of five times, back-to-back twice in 1997-1998 and 1998-1999 and 2003-2004 and 2004-2005. In his first season as AU's men's head coach in 1994-95, he was tabbed as the NIIC's Coach of the Year. This gave him the unusual distinction of winning that award back-to-back both as women's coach in 1993-1994 and as a men's coach.
The Spartan men’s basketball team is in action next on Saturday, January 21, 2006, when they host Concordia University (IL). Game time is set for 3:00 p.m. in Thornton Gymnasium.
Eureka College vs Aurora University 1/18/06 7:30 p.m. at Aurora University Thornton Gymnasium At Aurora University Thornton Gymnasium AURORA UNIVERSITY 101, EUREKA COLLEGE 74 EUREKA COLLEGE (4-12; 0-3 NIIC) RICHARD, AJ 7-14 2-4 16; PEFFER, Tim 5-15 0-0 12; DARNALL, Mark 4-8 1-1 9; WALTON, Andrew 4-5 1-1 9; WILDENRADT, Brady 2-8 2-3 8; TARPLEY, Chris 4-12 0-1 8; HEIDER, Eric 2-6 1-2 6; SOTTOS, Luke 1-5 2-2 4; McCOMB, Matt 0-4 1-2 1; McCOY, Seth 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-78 11-18 74. AURORA UNIVERSITY (9-7; 2-0 NIIC) WELTON, Larry 11-21 9-11 33; ENGELHARDT, Luke 4-7 2-2 13; LAMBERT, Doug 4-6 2-2 12; RAUCH, Jeremy 4-7 3-6 11; MAGEE, Dusty 3-8 1-2 9; CARSON, Courtney 4-8 0-0 8; CARTWRIGHT, Jeremy 1-2 2-4 4; GULLICKSON, Erik 2-2 0-0 4; TRUDO, Chad 1-4 0-0 3; BURDEN, Aaron 1-1 0-0 2; DAVIS, John 1-2 0-0 2; MENDEZ, Vic 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 36-69 19-27 101. Eureka College................ 37 37 - 74 Aurora University............. 57 44 - 101 3-point goals-Eureka College 5-27 (WILDENRADT, Brady 2-6; PEFFER, Tim 2-9; HEIDER, Eric 1-5; TARPLEY, Chris 0-2; McCOMB, Matt 0-3; DARNALL, Mark 0-2), Aurora University 10-26 (ENGELHARDT, Luke 3-5; LAMBERT, Doug 2-4; MAGEE, Dusty 2-6; WELTON, Larry 2-6; TRUDO, Chad 1-3; MENDEZ, Vic 0-1; CARSON, Courtney 0-1). Fouled out--Eureka College-WALTON, Andrew, Aurora University-None. Rebounds-Eureka College 47 (TARPLEY, Chris 12), Aurora University 44 (WELTON, Larry 7). Assists-Eureka College 10 (SOTTOS, Luke 5), Aurora University 21 (CARSON, Courtney 6). Total fouls-Eureka College 21, Aurora University 17. A-250 AU Head Coach James Lancaster becomes AU men's basketball all-time career wins leader with his 208th victory surpassing the lengendary Don Holler.