Mequon

Kyle Barth's 18 footer with 2.9 seconds to play provided the final heroics as Concordia earned home court advantage for the entire NAC playoff series with a 79-78 victory over Aurora.

Southern Division champion Aurora led 78-70 with 3:21 remaining, but the Spartans went scoreless the rest of the way and Northern Division champion CUW came all the way back for the spectacular win.

The rally started innocently with Edward Newton-Kemp hitting one of two free throws to bring the Falcons within 7 with 2:45 left. After the teams traded turnovers, Tyler Granrath also converted one of two at 2:19.

Suddenly rattled Aurora missed a layup before Mitchell Schneider drove for a score to make it 78-74. Then the Spartans' Damian Lewis missed a pair of free throws at :38 and Barth hit a 3 to make it a one point game with :19 left.

Now totally unnerved, another Spartan (Dusty Magee) also missed twice from the charity stripe with :13 left before Barth launched the game winner.

Barth led the Falcons with 22 points while Schneider and Kemp added 12 each. Bench play was important with Zach Neumann (3-3 from the field), Tyler Granrath (8 points) and Nick Doedens (5) helping to make the difference. All five Aurora starters scored in double figures but those 5 were also the only Spartan players to score.

"We kept battling and refused to give up down the stretch. I was especially proud of our heart when it appeared the game was out of reach. We got something from everybody tonight and our depth made a difference," offered an elated Coach Shawn Cassidy.

The Buuck Fiedhouse should be raucous EVERY night next week starting with Tuesday if things go according to plan.

The Falcon men host Dominican Tuesday night (7:00pm) in round one of the NAC Tourney and could also host Thursday and Saturday if they keep winning.

The same is true for the CUW women who also own the #1 seed and could play Friday and Saturday at home if they are victorious om Wednesday night when they host MSOE.