A 14-0 run late in the second half doomed the Dominican University men's basketball team in a 75-59 loss to the Aurora University Spartans on Monday night at the Igini Sports Forum.  Dominican got off to a hot start offensively, connecting on four of their first six attempts from three but finished just 9-for-30 on the night.
 
"Hopefully the team will learn from tonight," said Mark White, the Stars' head men's basketball coach. "When Aurora turned up their defensive intensity we quit moving the ball and instead dominated the ball individually and had really poor shot selection. We need to learn to grind it out when the going gets tough the last ten minutes of a tight game."
 
After the Spartans opened a nine-point lead with 9:04 to play in the second half, Domenic Aiello buried back-to-back threes to pull Dominican within three, 57-54 with 7:40 to go.  The Spartans responded with a 14-0 run that saw the Stars go scoreless for just shy of five minutes to pull away.
 
Jackson Smith and Sean Ek led the Stars with 11 points apiece in the losing effort. Smith scored all 11 of his points in the first half while Ek dropped in nine in the opening 20 minutes.
 
Dominican shot just 33-percent after the break, 10-for-30, from the field including connecting on just three of 14 attempts from three-point range.  The Spartans heated up after halftime, shooting 17-for-32 from the field, hitting seven of 13 attempts from three.
 
Bailey Vance led for Spartans in double-digits with 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting.
 
Dominican will close out the 2018 portion of their schedule on Wednesday, hosting the North Park University Vikings for a non-conference matchup at the Igini Sports Forum.  Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.