by Eric Willuweit

Aurora, Ill. – Four starters scored in double-figures, and the Illinois Tech men's basketball team rode a 19-point first half lead to their fifth-consecutive conference victory, as the Scarlet Hawks defeated Aurora University 80-68 Thursday night in Aurora. With the win, the Scarlet Hawks improved to 5-2 in NACC play, and evened their record at 7-7 overall. The Spartans fell to 4-3 in conference and 9-5 overall.

Milos Dugalic led the offensive attack for the Scarlet Hawks, scoring 23 points in the contest, including a layup with 5:11 remaining in the first half that gave Dugalic 1,000-plus points for his Illinois Tech playing career. This comes on the heels of Otis Reale recording his 1,000th career point during Tuesday night's home victory over Dominican.

Illinois Tech shooting was the difference in the ball game, as the Scarlet Hawks shot 52% from the field, including 46% from three-point range.

First Half (Illinois Tech 48 – Aurora 29)

The Scarlet Hawks trailed only once during the entire game, when the Spartans' Julian Gatewood made a layup with 19:45 remaining in the first half to give Aurora a 2-1 lead. The Hawks responded with a 19-2 run to take a 20-4 lead at the 12:23 mark. Aurora used an 8-3 run to cut their deficit to 11 points with just under 10 minutes remaining in the half, 23-12. Illinois Tech would counter, however, extending their lead to 22 points with 2:17 remaining before closing the half with a 19-point advantage. Dugalic scored 21 of his 23 points in the first half.

Second Half (Aurora 39 – Illinois Tech 32)

Aurora battled in the second frame, opening with a 7-0 run, and closing within 5 points at 57-52 with 8:13 remaining. A Desmond Price three-pointer at the 5:07 mark restored an 11-point lead for the Scarlet Hawks at 70-59.  Both teams traded baskets the rest of the way, with the Hawks outpacing the Spartans 10-9 in the game's final five minutes. Price led the Scarlet Hawks in second half scoring with 12 points.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Dugalic with 23 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 blocks.
• Price with 17 points, tying his Scarlet Hawks career high, while also pulling in 7 rebounds.
• Caden Gigstad had 15 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
• Garrison Carter added 13 points.
• Reale led the team with 8 assists, while adding 9 points and 4 rebounds.

Spartans Watch

• Nolan Boffman had 17 points and 5 rebounds.
• Michael Osborne and Justin Wilson each added 13 points for Aurora.

Inside the Box Score

• The Scarlet Hawks shot 46% from three-point range on 11-24 shooting. The Spartans were 5-20 from three-point range for 25%. 
• The Scarlet Hawks shot 52% from the field; Aurora shot 37%
• Illinois Tech starters outscored Aurora starters 77-33. Conversely, Aurora had a 35-3 advantage in bench scoring.
• Illinois Tech committed 16 fouls; the Spartans had 15 fouls.
• 6 technical fouls were issued in the contest: 4 for Illinois Tech and 2 for Aurora.
• Reale was the minutes leader for the Hawks with 39 minutes. Osborne played 29:32 minutes for the Spartans.

Up Next

• The Scarlet Hawks will look to extend their NACC winning streak to six games when they host Lakeland University Saturday at 2:00 PM at the Keating Sports Center.