Warriors' Late Run Comes Up Short Against Spartans

MILWAUKEE - DJ Escamilla (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) led a Warriors comeback attempt with a game-high 15 points, but the Wisconsin Lutheran College men's basketball team came up short against conference-leading Aurora Saturday afternoon by a score of 67-58 at the Recreation Complex.

WHERE THEY STAND

• WLC fell to 3-5 overall and 1-4 in NACC play, while Aurora improved to 6-2 with a perfect 4-0 mark in leauge play.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Aurora jumped out in front quickly 8-1 at the 15:46 mark, and led by as many as nine points in the first half. 
• Wisconsin Lutheran used a run, led by Escamilla, to cut its deficit to 19-18 with 7:39 to play. However, the Warriors never held the lead in the contest. 
• The Spartans regained control and led at the break 36-30. Escamilla paced the Warriors with nine points in the first half.
• AU led by a game-high 17 points at 61-44 with 6:39 left in the second half before the Warriors responded with a 13-0 run to cut their deficit to just four points with 3:01 remaining.
• The Spartans responded, however, by finishing the game on a 6-1 run over the final 2:36 to pull away for the victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The Spartans out-shot the Warriors 41.7 percent (25-for-60) to 33.9 percent (20-for-59).
• Escamilla was joined in double-figures by Christian Walz's (Waukesha, Wis./West) 10 points off the bench. 
• Nate Siemers (Nicollet, Minn./Minnesota Valley Lutheran) pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.
• WLC out-rebounded its opponent for the seventh time in eight games, 46-39.
• The Forest Green and White held a 15-5 advantage in second chance points.
• The Warriors turned the ball over 20 times, which led to 19 Spartans points.
• AU doubled up WLC on points in the paint, 36-18.
• Tyler Hall and Kyle Pilmer paced four AU players in double-figures with 14 points each.

UP NEXT

• Wisconsin Lutheran will have six days off for finals week before returning to action next Saturday at Rockford (1-7, 1-3 NACC) for a 4:15 p.m. tip-off. Links to live stats and video will be available on wlcsports.com.