LISLE, IL - The 18th-ranked Benedictine University men's basketball team shot 63 percent from the field, received a triple-double from Michael Blaszczyk, and connected on 15 three-pointers to sweep rival Aurora University and open a commanding lead in the NACC.

FINAL SCORE
#18 Benedictine 103, Aurora 76

THE DETAILS
• The first half was close before a big run late swung the momentum and changed the contest
• Aurora built a 14-8 lead with 14:12 remaining in the first half
• Adam Reynolds made a layup to open a 6-0 run which tied the game on a three from Brayden Olson with 12:53 left
• The visitors led by four points with 9:35 to play in the half
• The next six minutes were back and forth with neither team leading by more than two points
• Trailing 31-30, Benedictine embarked on an 18-3 run to close the half, ripping off 15 straight to head into the break leading 48-34
• Zach Gorney splashed home a three to open the 15-0 run and Olson put on the finishing touches with a three in transition just before the buzzer
• The run continued to 20-0 with the first five points of the second half on a three-pointer from Blaszczyk and a layup from Matt Chaltin
• Aurora chipped the deficit down to 14 at 59-45, but Benedictine pushed back with seven straight, leading 66-45 on a layup from Olson with 13:16 remaining
• The advantage swelled to more than 30 points in the final five minutes as the shots kept falling
• Olson handed Benedictine the biggest lead of the game at 99-65 with 4:22 to go
• The contest featured three ties and 11 lead changes
• Benedictine swept the season series after winning at the buzzer in December and held Aurora nearly 20 points below average
• Benedictine has won five in a row since a loss to Concordia Wisconsin that halted a conference record 34-game NACC regular season win streak
• Benedictine has scored 80 or more points in nine of the last 10 games with a record of 8-1 and has surpassed 100 points on three occasions
• The team ahs made 10 or more three-pointers in the last three games and 10 times on the year

STAT LEADERS
• Blaszczyk finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists to record the first triple-double in recent history
• Olson led all scorers with 25 points off the bench, hitting 9-of-11 shots including a career best 7-of-8 from three-point range
• Harvey also approached a triple-double with 20 points, nine boards and seven assists
• Reynolds tacked on 21 points to go with six rebounds, making 10 field goals
• Benedictine shot a season high 62.7 percent for the game, making 42 field goals
• The team made 63.3 percent of first half attempts and 62.2 percent of second half tries
• Benedictine held a 39-31 edge on the glass and dished 29 assists
• The team finished 15-for-29 from three-point range for a 51.7 percent mark
• Benedictine finished with a 31-4 edge in fast break points and a 48-18 margin in the paint

UP NEXT
Benedictine (16-4, 14-1 NACC) holds a full three-game lead over everyone in the conference with fie games left. The team is in the midst of a stretch that features six games in 12 days and owns a 4-0 mark thus far