BOX SCORE
LISLE, Ill. – The Benedictine University men's basketball team defeated their rival Aurora University 71-60 and advanced to the Northern Athletics Conference championship game on Friday night. The Dan and Ada Rice Center was packed with screaming fans all wearing white in support of their Eagles. BenU pulled down 65 rebounds as a team and held the lead for almost the entire game.
After former Eagle
Mike Bumber hit a jumper at the beginning of the game to put the Spartans (15-12, 9-7) up by two, senior
Jerrell Tribble answered right back and nailed a three-point basket to give the Eagles the 3-2 advantage. BenU (20-7, 13-3) never lost the lead after this and cruised through the first half.
Tribble (7-15) and point guard
Nate Green (7-22) paced the Eagles in scoring with 20 points apiece. Tribble had a double-double, his first of the season, as he also grabbed ten rebounds. Senior
Cameron Snelling grabbed a team-high 14 boards and also tallied a double-double as he also chipped in 11 points (5-18).
Seniors
Terry Licht and
Brian Genslinger each pulled down ten rebounds as well, while Green grabbed seven and also dished out seven assists. Genslinger was a huge presence near the rim as he swatted numerous Spartan shots and finished with four blocks.
Early in the second, an electrifying dunk from Snelling gave the Eagles a 12-point lead with 14:24 remaining. Snelling was fouled on the play as well, though he was unable to convert the three-point play. Back-to-back three-pointers by Tribble with five minutes left gave the Eagles a 14-point lead and they stayed in control for the rest of the game. Tribble shot 60 percent from behind the arc (3-5) and has really come alive for the Eagles in the post-season.
The Spartans were led by Bumber who had 15 points (6-18). Scott Laskowski tallied the third double-double of the game with 12 points (3-10) and 16 rebounds. However, shooting became the downfall for Aurora as they hit only 28.8 percent of their shots and only 53.6 percent of their free throws.
After a stunning upset over the No. 1 seed Concordia University-Wisconsin, the Eagles get the opportunity to play the championship game at home tomorrow night against the Eagles of Edgewood College. Tip-off will be at 7:00 pm in the Rice Center. The game can be viewed live at
www.vidtechsportsvision.com.
