Aurora, IL – The Dominican University men's basketball team struggled on Wednesday night, falling to Aurora 98-76.
 
Jackson Smith battled for his 21 points, going 9-of-12 from the charity stripe. Luke McDermott added 10 while KJ Redfield chipped in nine points to go along with eight rebounds.
 
The Spartans were on them from the tip as they rushed out to a 14-2 lead five minutes into the game. A triple from Redfield cut the deficit to seven, 19-12, before a three-pointer from Smith kept the Stars within striking distance, 33-25, as 7:53 remained in the first half.
 
This is when Aurora broke the game wide open with a 21-9 run, as it shot 7-of-15 from the field during that stretch to take a 54-34 lead into the break.
 
A make from long-range by the Spartans pushed the margin to 30, 67-37, just over three minutes into the second session as Aurora maintained at least a 20-point differential the rest of the way, cruising to a 98-76 victory.
 
"Give credit to Aurora, they outplayed us in every facet of the game," said Head Coach Mark White. "We have two games left in our season. I'm confident that we will bounce back and you will see a much more energized team on Friday night."
 
Dominican will go back to the drawing board for a pair of games at Concordia Chicago this weekend, beginning on Friday, February 26^th at 7:00 p.m.