Men's Basketball drops road contest at Aurora

AURORA, Ill. – Aurora University used a 23-0 scoring run in the opening half to take control on Thursday night and defeat Concordia University Wisconsin, 95-74, during a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game inside Thornton Gymnasium.

CUW built a six-point lead, 22-16, midway through the first half after going back and forth with AU. However, during the next six minutes and five seconds the Falcons defense couldn't stop the Spartans, as they went on a 23-0 scoring run to build a comfortable lead.

During the defense lapse, CUW's offense missed eight field goal attempts and turned the ball over five times. More importantly, six of their possessions were limited to just one shot.

AU (16-8, 13-6 NACC) maintained its double-figure lead for nearly the final 20 minutes of play and shot 50.7 percent (38-of-75) for the game. CUW (11-13, 9-10 NACC) found its offensive rhythm in the second half shooting 57.1 percent, but its counterpart made over 54 percent of their attempts.

Sophomore Keith Kahlfeldt (New Berlin, Wis.) had 16 points, while and sophomore Dustin Thumann (Marshfield, Wis.) tied his career high of 16 points, which he accomplished on Tuesday for the Falcons. Sophomore Garrett Wenzelburger (Hartland, Wis.) made his first career start and tallied 13 points (9-of-15 free throws), grabbed a career-high-tying eight rebounds and stole a career-best three passes.

Freshman Eric Kittel (Brillion, Wis.) ended with nine points, five rebounds and four assists. Senior Boubacar Camara (Cenon, France) and junior Mark Scholz (Greenfield, Wis.) each had eight points off the bench.

Kalmon Stokes led all players with 25 points, while Brandon Smith netted 20 points for the Spartans. Kyle Pilmer had the game's only double-double, 19 points and 16 rebounds, to go along with three steals and two blocks. Cody Carter added 12 points as a reserve.

CUW returns to action on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Marian University for the final NACC game of the season before the NACC Tournament.