Aurora Pulls Away from Men’s Basketball

AURORA, Ill. – The CUW men's basketball team fell to the Spartans of Aurora, 82-72, to fall to 1-6 on the season and 1-1 in Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference (NACC) play. 

In the early part of the first half, the Spartans jumped out to a quick lead, going up 10-1 after three-and-a-half minutes into the contest. 

But the Falcons would score four straight, courtesy of a free throw from senior Gabe Pruss (North Fon du Lac, Wis.) and a made three-pointer from fellow senior Samuel Meerstein (Green Bay, Wis.) to put cut Aurora's lead in half, 10-5. 

With 3:22 left in the half, the Falcons would shrink Aurora's lead to just four, 37-33, following a steal and score by senior Zech Hans (Hartland, Wis.).  

At half, the Falcons trailed the Spartans 45-35. 

In that first half, freshman Matt Merlo (Random Lake, Wis.) found his groove for CUW, leading the team with nine points, five rebounds, and one steal. 

Also, in the first half, the Falcons received a solid contribution from their bench unit, which added 15 points and went perfect from the field, shooting 6-of-6 from the floor.

The Spartans extended their lead out of the break, going up 17 with 12:44 left in the contest. 

But the Falcons would remain determined to pull off the comeback, as junior Adam Bruins (Oak Creek, Wis.) and Jonah Jurss (Sheboygan, Wis.) would hit jump shots to cut into the Aurora lead. 

Despite their best efforts, the Spartans would respond and take a 21-point lead with 7:21 remaining. 

Once again, the Falcons refused to quit, going on a quick 4-0 run as Gabe Pruss and Samuel Meerstein put in layups. 

Then, with 4:22 left, Gabe Pruss put another layup off an assist from senior Freeman Jackson (Green Bay, Wis.) to cut AU's lead to 16, 73-57. 

Then, on the defensive end, Jonah Jurss started the break with a steal and found Freeman Jackson for the fast break layup to shrink the Spartans' lead to 14. 

But Aurora would respond with a 4-0 run to recapture their lead. 

But the Falcons' comeback effort would not stop, as Freeman Jackson went on a personal 9-0 run and drained three-straight triples, the third coming off of a pass from junior Zach Leahy (West Dundee, Ill.) to reduce Aurora's lead to just single digits, as the Falcons trailed by nine, 77-68, with 1:28 left in the game, forcing an AU timeout. 

Out of the timeout, with 1:06 remaining, the Spartans stopped the Falcon's run, finding the bottom of the net with a layup to re-establish their double-digit margin at 79-68.  

But the Falcons remained persistent, as Zach Leahy got to the line and sank two free throws.

Then, on the defensive end, Jonah Jurss recorded another steal and found Zach Leahy on the fast break. Leahy would draw the shooting foul and sink two more free throws to cut the Spartans' lead to seven, 79-27, with 35 seconds left. 

But it was too little too late for the Falcons, as the Spartans would secure the 82-72 victory.

In the loss, Freeman Jackson and Gabe Pruss led the Falcons with 13 points each, while Samuel Meerstein added 10 points, as seven of Meersteins' 10 came in the second half. 

Defensively, Jonah Jurss recorded a career-high four steals. Jurss also had three assists and added five points off the bench.

The Falcons will return to the court on Wednesday, Dec. 6^th, when they will travel to take on the Warriors of Wisconsin Lutheran College at 7 p.m.