Dec. 3, 2007

Box Score

River Forest, Ill. - The Dominican University men's basketball team opened the 2007-2008 Northern Athletics Conference (NAC) season on Saturday, falling 64-60 to the Aurora University Spartans, tabbed to win the conference championship in the NAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.

The Stars trailed by as many as six in the first eight minutes of the contest, but stuck with the Spartans throughout much of the first half, trailing 30-25 at the break. The Stars started the second frame on a 10-3 run to take a 35-33 lead with over 15 minutes to play. The lead was just the Stars' second lead of the game, which they relinquished on the Spartans' next possession.

Aurora led by as many as six throughout the rest of the half. With Aurora leading by three with under 45 seconds to play, a pair of offensive rebounds doomed the Stars and allowed the Spartans to pull out the win in both teams first conference game.

Jose Garcia (Kenosha, WI) came off the Stars bench to lead Dominican in scoring with 16 points on 6-for-13 shooting from the field and 2-for-6 shooting from three. Mike Haiduc chipped in 12 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for the Stars in the losing effort.

The loss dropped the Stars to 2-3 on the season. They return to action on Tuesday as they host conference and neighborhood rival Concordia University Chicago for a 7:00 p.m. game in the Stars' Igini Sports Forum.