AURORA, Ill. – The Edgewood College Men's Basketball team played another close NACC contest on Tuesday night in a road trip to face Aurora University. The Eagles and Spartans were tied at 70 with under two minutes to go, but Aurora won those final minutes and held on for an 81-77 victory. Jake Negus scored 28 points, while Ryan Buss posted a double-double to lead Edgewood College.

HOW IT HAPPENED
- Aurora (9-15, 8-11 NACC) led the entire first half thanks to an 8-0 run to open the game. The Eagles (8-16, 7-12 NACC) didn't score their first basket until 4:48 into the game when Buss made a layup. The Spartans would extend their game-opening run to 13-4 with 13:13 left in the opening half.

- Aurora led the lead the rest of the first half and took a 34-30 lead into the break. Edgewood College started the second half on a 7-2 run and took its first lead at 37-36 with 18:23 left after another Buss layup.

- The Eagles and Spartans would go back-and-forth for the rest of the game with Aurora making another surge midway through the half to go up 63-54. Edgewood College responded with a 7-0 run, which included a 3-point make by Max Fernholz, bringing the score to 63-61 in favor of Aurora.

- Down 68-65 with 2:28 left, Negus was fouled on a 3-point shot in the corner and he connected on all three free throws to bring the Eagles even at 68. Aurora scored on its next possession and Negus got to the rim and scored on the Eagles next trip, making it 70-70 with 1:44 left.

- The Spartans took the lead for good on their next trip when Jarek Hotwagner was left wide open at the top of the key. He buried the 3-point shot to push Aurora up 73-70. Negus brought the Eagles within one, again easily getting to the rim, but Aurora would answer with a layup of its own to go back up three (75-72) with 41 seconds to play. Edgewood College turned it over on its next trip, and the Spartans made enough free throws down the stretch to hold on for an 81-79 win.

- The double-double was the second of the season and career for Buss, who tied his career-high with 11 rebounds. He shot 8-for-13 from the floor. Negus added five assists in addition to his game-high 28 points, while Ben Seefeld added 18 points, making 5-of-11 from the floor and 4-of-8 from 3-point range.


- Despite the strong performance from Buss, the Eagles were outrebounded, 43-27, on Tuesday night. Aurora got themselves plenty of second chances with 15 offensive boards compared to six for the Eagles.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- While the Eagles would have needed a lot to go their way over the final week, the loss officially eliminates them from NACC Tournament contention. Edgewood College had reached the conference tournament in each of the past two seasons.

THE OPPOSITION
- Rashad Johnson scored 22 points off the bench to lead Aurora on Tuesday, connecting on 9-of-12 from the floor. Bailey Vance added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Spartans.

- The Aurora bench outscored the Eagles, 35-10. Johnson and Hotwagner (11 points) scored 33 of those 35 bench points for the Spartans.

UP NEXT
- The Eagles will close their 2019-20 season with a home game against Wisconsin Lutheran College on Saturday. Fans are encouraged to wear black for the Bring it to the Blackout event. The Eagles will also honor senior Jacob Miller before the contest, which is set to begin at 2 p.m.