AU men, women both victorious
The Aurora University men's basketball team defeated the Dominican University Stars 64-60 on Saturday afternoon in AU's Thornton Gymnasium.
The game was dominated by defense, with neither team really able to get their offensive games going with the intense pressure being put on defensively.
AU maintained a lead for most of the tight contest, trailing the Stars only two times, one being the opening 3-point field goal by Dominican senior guard Troy Tonsil.
The contest was tied six different times, including a 57-57 score with 2:40 left to play in the game. But AU would build a 6-point lead; the game's largest lead was six by the Spartans nine different times.
The Spartans took a 30-25 lead into halftime with Aurora junior guard Jarrett Starwood leading all scorers with 11 first-half points on 3 of 10 shooting in the opening half. Dominican senior guard Jose Garcia, came off the bench to knock down a quick 3-pointer and finish with 9 first-half points.
Aurora's Larry Welton had 8 points in the opening half, to move in to third on the all-time AU scoring list with his first 3-pointer of the contest. The basket allowed him to surpass Joe Weber (1980-1984) who had 1,818 career points.
The Spartans' leading scorer on the afternoon was Starwood, as he finished with a game-high 20 on 6-of-17 shooting. Welton finished with 16 points and 5 rebounds.
The Stars were led by Garcia's 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting and senior forward Mike Haiduc added a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The win pushes the Spartans' record to 3-2, while the Stars fall to 2-3. It was the first conference game for both teams, as Aurora moves to 1-0 in NAC play and Dominican falls to 0-1.
The Spartans return to action on Tuesday when they travel up north to take on NAC foe Wisconsin-Lutheran at 7 p.m.
Women's basketball
Aurora 78, Dominican 76:ŒThe Aurora University Spartan women's basketball team defeated the visiting Stars of Dominican University 78-76 on Saturday afternoon in AU's Thornton Gymnasium.
The win pushes Aurora's overall record to 2-4, while their conference record moves to 1-0; Dominican falls to 0-6 overall and 0-2 in the Northern Athletics Conference.
The game was a fast-paced one, with both teams attempting to push the ball up the court every possession. The result was a game full of transition baskets and turnovers.
AU won the turnover plagued battle; turning the ball over 28 times, compared to Dominican's 33.
AU was led by freshman guard Lisa McQuade, who finished with a career-high 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field. Junior forward Kim Voiles also had a stellar day for the Spartans, as she finished with 16 points and 5 assists.
AU led 35-31 at the half and the see-saw affair continued throughout the second half. The Spartans took an 8-point lead with two quick baskets to start the second half, only to see the Stars crawl back and knot the contest at 58 with 8:30 to play.
AU built a 5-point lead with 6:40 to play only to see the lead disappear once again and with 1:50 to play in the game, the Spartans and Stars were knotted at 72.
The Spartans got three clutch baskets down the stretch, including a 3-pointer by junior guard Meagan Re to hold onto their second win of the season.
Dominican was led by sophomore guard Lisa Julkowski, who had a game-high 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Sophomore forward Jessica Salinas had 20 points and junior guard Lindsey Trent added 19 points.
Aurora returns to action on Wednesday when they travel to Alverno College at 7 p.m. in Milwaukee.