Jan. 16, 2014 - How close was Thursday night's game between the Concordia Cougars and the Aurora Spartans? The visiting Spartans won by one point - and some might say that the game was much closer than the final score.

The two rivals battled through another in a long series of exciting contests over the years. This game was not decided until two-tenths of a second remained when Gavin Walker hit the second of two free throws to give the Spartans an 81-80 victory.

Concordia had the better of play for much of the first half. A three by Nat Pearson (Palatine, IL/H.S.) gave the Cougars an early 7-5 lead and, with the exception of one brief tie, they held the lead for the remainder of the half. Marcus Elston (Chicago, IL/Benito Juarez) had a monster of a first half with 10 points and 14 rebounds, and Brandon Stinson (Schiller Park, IL/East Leyden) and Jared Gosse (Green Bay, WI/NEW Lutheran) also provided strength on the boards.

A jumper by Kostas Doxakis (Thessaloniki, Greece) gave CUC its largest lead, 38-29 with two minutes left in the half. However, Aurora scored the final five points - four by 6'8" center Kyle Pilmer - as they closed the gap to four points after 20 minutes.

Pearson began the second half with a three from the right corner, but Aurora quickly answered with a quick burst of offense. Led by guard Brandon Smith, who was limited to just a few first-half minutes because of early foul trouble, the Spartans outscored the Cougars 14-2 over the next three minutes. Smith was responsible for nine of the points in the run, including a long three-pointer.

The Cougars answered with a 10-0 run to reclaim the lead at 53-48. Stinson scored twice, and Gosse hit two free throws and a layup, both following offensive rebounds. The 6'4" Gosse would finish with a career-high 14 rebounds to go with nine points.

Concordia had an opportunity to extend the lead further, but three turnovers allowed the Spartans to hang around, and they soon capitalized. Smith, who would score all 17 of his points in the second half, hit a couple of threes, Mick Kladas later added a three at the 9:06 mark of the half as the Spartans took the lead at 64-63.

Aurora would build their lead as high as seven points (75-68), and the lead was at six with two minutes left when Concordia staged a late rally. Elston hit a pair of free throws, and Pearson scored on a fast break to make it an 80-78 game. Aurora then gave CUC the opening they needed on two missed free throws with 14 seconds left. Stinson was fouled on a drive to the basket with 4.8 seconds left, and he calmly made both throws to knot the game.

The Spartans used their speed to get the final opportunity. Guard Gavin Walker took the inbounds and accelerated past a couple of defenders, Walker drove all the way to the basket and was fouled going for a layup as the clock showed just two-tenths of a second remaining. With the Cougar crowd at its most vocal, Walker saw the first free throw bounce off the rim. However, Walker sank the second to put the Spartans up one.

Amazingly, there was still time for one exciting moment. Mike Walmer (Orlando, FL/Orlando Christian) took the inbounds and let fly with an 80-footer that sailed toward the south basket on a perfect arc and banked home for what some fans thought was a miracle win for the Cougars. However, the referees immediately signaled no basket as the rules state that only a tip can account for a field goal with three-tenths or less remaining,

Concordia finished with a dominating 57-31 advantage on the boards, led by Elston's 19, Gosse's 14 and Stinson's 10. However, the Cougars shot just 2-17 from three-point range and committed five more turnovers (15-10) than the Spartans.

Elston led all players with 22 points on 6-10 from the field and 10-11 from the foul line. Three other Cougars finished in double figures - Stinson with 17, Walmer with 13 and Pearson with 12. Kyle Pilmer led Aurora (11-5, 8-3 NACC) with 21 points, followed by Smith with 17, Kalmon Stokes with 12 and Walker with 10.

The Cougars (5-10, 2-9 NACC) will finish a busy week on Saturday when they host the Milwaukee School of Engineering on Saturday afternoon.