AURORA, Ill. - Marian University men's basketball (11-14, 10-10 NACC) fell to Aurora 96-75 and with an Edgewood win over Benedictine was eliminated from a berth in the NACC Tournament.

The Sabres trailed early and could never recover as the Spartans were able to pull away from the Sabres.  The two teams started to an 11-11 draw before the Spartans were able to use a 25-6 run to take a 36-17 advantage with seven minutes left in the first half.  The Sabres were unable to chip away at the lead with a consistent offense from Aurora with the Spartans building their lead to as large as 26 points in the second half.

The Sabres finished the game 28-67 (.418) from the field including 8-21 (.381) from beyond the arc but the Spartans were able to dominate down low.  Aurora outrebounded the Sabres 44-36 and outscored the Sabres in the paint by a 40-24 margin.

Junior Evan Hansen paced the Sabre offense with 19 points, while fellow junior Tyrese Pinson netted 15 points with three assists and two steals.  Freshman Logan Hamilton was able to come off the bench and score 10 points.

Senior Alex Manhardt played his final collegiate game closing out his career with 1,036 points, 580 rebounds and 89 blocks.  Manhardt is only the eighth Sabre in men's basketball history to eclipse 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in a career.

--FightBlueFight--