AURORA, Ill. – Marian University men’s basketball (2-12, 2-6 NACC) earned its second straight win defeating Aurora 67-61 in overtime.
- Aurora scored the first five points in what proved to be the largest lead early on.
- Marian eventually took a 16-15 advantage only to see the Spartans use a quick 10-2 run to lead 25-18 with 4:12 left until halftime.
- After trailing 27-20, Marian closed the half with seven unanswered points to put the score at a 27-27 deadlock going into halftime.
- Aurora took an early 31-29 lead before Marian went on a 12-3 spurt to lead 41-34.
- The Sabres led by as much as eight only to have the Spartans chip away and eventually tie the game at 50-50.
- Aurora would take a three-point lead with 1:02 left to play only for junior Mahlik Hall to respond with a triple of his own to tie the game at 55-55.
- Each team had an opportunity to break the tie in the final 48 seconds but the game would head to an extra period.
- Marian immediately came out firing scoring the first five points and never trailed in overtime.
- The Sabres built their lead out to as large as seven with the final settling at 67-61.
- Marian shot 22-of-53 (.415) and went 9-of-18 (.500) from beyond the arc. The Sabres would go 5-of-6 (.833) in overtime and hit the only triple they attempted.
- Aurora shot 21-of-58 (.362) and only 5-of-28 (.179) on three-pointers. The Spartans went 0-for-5 from beyond the arc in overtime.
- The Spartans had a 30-22 advantage for points in the paint.
- Each team had 37 rebounds.
- The Sabres improve to 4-1 over the last five meetings against Aurora.
