AURORA, Ill. – Aurora (Ill.) University finished the first half with a game-turning 11-0 spurt and hit 18 three-pointers in defeating the Lakeland College men's basketball team 105-81 Saturday afternoon in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game.
The Spartans never trailed in the second half on the way to sweeping the season series between the two teams. Unbeaten Aurora (5-0 overall, 3-0 NACC) also defeated the Muskies 11 days earlier and dropped Lakeland to 3-3 overall and 2-2 in conference play.
The Spartans controlled the second half after taking a 55-44 lead into halftime. Aurora never led by less than seven over the final 20 minutes and held a double-digit lead for the game's final 18 minutes 19 seconds.
The Spartans also were red-hot from long range all game long, hitting 18 of 34 three-point tries. Aurora drained nine triples in each half, with Kalmon Stokes hitting six three-pointers and Tyler Hall adding five more.
The final score was not indicative of a hard-fought battle for most of the game's first 20 minutes. The first half saw eight ties and 10 lead changes, with the Muskies bouncing back from an early eight-point deficit to lead on several occasions.
Lakeland's final lead came from a layup by
Mark Gryszkiewicz (
Jr.-Sussex, Wis.) making it 34-33 with 5:45 left in the first half. The score was tied again at 44-44 after a jumper by
Joshuan McNeal (
So.-Chicago, Ill.) when Aurora scored 11 straight points over the final 1:48 of the half to take a 55-44 lead into halftime.
Tanner Hackl (
Sr.-West De Pere, Wis.) and
Travis Kell (
Jr.-Madison, Wis.) both scored 15 points each to lead the scoring for the Muskies.
Pat McDonald (
Fr.-Port Washington, Wis.) and McNeal scored 12, and in all six players scored in double figures for Lakeland, which shot 44.1% from the field (30 of 68).
Hall scored 25 and Stokes added 20 for Aurora, which shot 49.3% overall from the field for the game (37 of 75). The Spartans also posted a big 52-33 rebounding advantage that included 19 offensive rebounds.
Lakeland now is off for final exams until its next game on Friday when it hosts Silver Lake College at 7 p.m. at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.
