The Dominican University men's basketball team lead by as many as 12 in the second half but could not hang on, falling 73-70 to the Aurora University Spartans at the Igini Sports Forum in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play on Saturday afternoon.  The loss drops the Stars to 3-5 on the season and 1-4 in league play.
 
After the Spartans opened an early seven point lead, 9-2, when Max Vickers completed a four-point play, the Stars chipped away at the lead before using a 9-0 run, including a Jackson Smith three that gave the Stars their first lead of the game, 32-31, with 3:21 to play in the opening half.  The teams traded a bucket and a pair of free throws each over the final three minutes of the half to give the Stars a 36-35 lead at the break.
 
After Tim Robertson opened the second half with a jumper for Dominican, Aurora went on an 8-1 run to pull back in front 43-39 with just under 17:30 to play.  Dominican's defense then put the clamps on the Spartans, holding Aurora scoreless for a six-minute stretch while using their own 12-0 run, capped by a Jonny Woolf three in transition to put the Stars ahead 51-43 with under 12 minutes to go.
 
While Marcus Myers' lay in snapped the Spartans' scoring drought, back-to-back threes for Dominican's Smith and Nick LaVere extended the Stars' lead to 57-45, their largest lead of the afternoon with 10:45 to play.
 
Aurora scored the next five points to cut the lead back down to single-digits at 57-50 and later used a 12-2 run to pull back in front, 67-63 with 3:37 to play when Myers got into the paint for two of his team-high 19 points.
 
Robertson scored the game's next four points to knot the game back up at 67-67 with 1:36 to play before Aurora's Matt Dunn put the Spartans back ahead with a pair of free throws on Aurora's next possession.
 
A couple of empty possessions for Dominican late allowed Aurora to extend its lead to six before Dominican's Antonio Amoah knocked down a three at the buzzer, ending the Stars' upset bid.
 
Robertson finished with a game-high 20 points on 8-for-20 shooting from the field and pulled down ten rebounds for his first double-double of the season.  Woolf added 15, including 13 in the second half, before fouling out while Smith finished with ten off the bench to round out three in double-figures scoring for the Stars.
 
As a team, Dominican shot better than 41-percent from the field and held a slight edge on the glass, out-rebounding the Spartans 36-34.  However, Aurora had a marked advantage at the foul line, converting on 25 of 33 trips to the free throw line while Dominican finished the game 7-for-14 at the foul line.
 
For the Spartans, Myers' 19 led four in double-figures with Matt Dunn finishing with 17 and Max Vickers and Ty Carlson adding 13 apiece.
 
Dominican will head to Eureka, Illinois, on Tuesday for a non-conference tilt with the Eureka College Red Devils.  Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. before Dominican enjoys an 11-day break for the holidays, returning to action on December 30 at Benedictine University.