Welton helps AU rally past rival Benedictine
As the newest chapter in the rivalry between Aurora University and Benedictine University was drawing to a close Saturday afternoon, it seemed a safe bet the game would turn on a hoop by either of two players.
Larry Welton led Aurora during a second half surge which included several plays that brought a roar from home crowd. But when it came to scoring, Welton was chasing Benedictine's Jared Bailey who finished the game with 39 points.
But it wasn't as simple as one team's star versus the other's, and the Spartans came away with an 85-81 win thanks to crunch-time contributions from several players.
"We have to have that teamwork to keep us together," Aurora's Chad Trudo said.
Trudo pulled down a key defensive rebound and sank a pair of free throws that iced game.
The game was tied, 79-79 with 1:36 showing on the clock when Aurora sophomore Lance Robinson drilled a pass into the lane as Shane Roland slashed through the Benedictine defense. Roland's hoop put the Spartans back on top.
"Once I started settling down tonight I was able to play my game," Robinson said.
The first half belonged to Benedictine as the Spartans struggled to get anything to drop and started out by hitting just 3 of their first 20 shots.
"I was very concerned early on," Aurora coach James Lancaster said.
The Spartans were sitting on just 12 points well past the midway mark of the first half, as the Eagles opened up an 11-point lead.
"We did a nice job defensively in the first half," Benedictine coach Keith Bunkenburg said. "I knew they'd make a run because they're too good a team to get blown out. I wanted to extend the lead or at least keep it there, but we weren't able to do that."
Benedictine held the lead for most of the first 20 minutes, and still led 41-37 at the break thanks in large part to Bailey's 23 first half points.
"He had a hot hand, and without him I don't know where we would've been tonight," Bunkenburg said.
As Welton, who scored 22 of his team-high 29 points in the second half, got into the flow of the offense, the Spartans were able to get their transition game in gear.
"I knew it was going to click sooner or later," Welton said. "This was a big game, and everyone was just over-pumped up for it."
Aurora put together a 9-0 run and threatened to run away with the game in the second half, as Welton and Doug Lambert got on the same wavelength, and the Eagles struggled to slow down the Spartan tandem.
"Larry and I try to work on that in practice," Lambert said. "We have a good rhythm coming off the screen."
But it's never easy between these two teams, and the Eagles found their way back from a 10-point deficit.
Dan Klecan hit a pair of free throws with just under a minute left to pull Benedictine even, 81-81. But Welton came up with a block and drained two free throws with 47 seconds left to put Aurora up for good.
Shane Roland scored 18 for the Spartans, Lambert added 14 points and 9 boards, and Trudo also scored 14 as Aurora benefited from having a number of players come through when they had to.
"We're starting to get some scoring punch off our bench," Lancaster said. "I like the balance that we're capable of having."
Aurora is now 5-2 overall and 3-0 in the Northern Athletics Conference. Benedictine falls to 3-4, 2-1.