Aurora Box Score

ELMHURST, Ill. - The Elmhurst College men's basketball team, ranked 17th in the D3hoops.com Preseason Poll, improved to 2-0 on the season by defeating Aurora University 79-65.

With the game tied at 28-all with six minutes to play in the first half, Elmhurst (2-0) closed the half on a 19-6 run to take a 47-34 lead at halftime.

The Bluejays continued to pull away in the second half, opening up a 20-point advantage and cruising to the 79-65 victory.

Elmhurst shot 51.9 percent (28-of-54) from the floor and 45.0 percent (9-of-20) from beyond the arc. Aurora (0-2) shot 44.0 percent (22-of-50) from the field and 46.2 percent (6-of-13) from 3-point range. Elmhurst won the battle on the glass, outrebounding Aurora 31-26.

Five Bluejays finished with double figures in scoring. Brent Ruch led the Bluejays with 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Ryan Burks added 13 points and Robert Strzemp finished with 12 points in the win. Mike McCurdy totaled 10 points  while Chris Childs came off the bench to score 10 as well. Dustin Bainter finished with eight points and a game-high nine rebounds and five assists.

Shane Roland paced the Spartans in the loss, scoring a game-high 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor. Chad Trudo added 14 points and Dusty Magee finished with 11 points in the loss.

Elmhurst travels to Simpson College on Wednesday, November 19.