MILWAUKEE – The MSOE men's basketball team closed out the game on a 10-2 run to break open a two-point game and hand Aurora a 69-59 defeat Saturday afternoon at the Kern Center.

The Raiders (14-4, 9-4 NACC) led the Spartans (12-7, 9-5 NACC) 59-57 with just under 90 seconds remaining before closing out the game on defense and at the free throw line.

Sophomore Austin Stueck scored a game-high 20 points to lead MSOE, while senior Jaren Singh and sophomore Connor Patterson added 15 apiece. Stueck hit all four of his three-point attempts in the first half, while Singh and Patterson combined to shoot 9-of-16 from the field and 12-of-15 at the free throw line.

Brandon Smith led four Spartans in double-figures with 17 points. Kalmon Stokes scored 12, Gavin Walker finished with 11 and Scott Laskowski had 10 off the bench.

With the teams seperated by just two, the Raiders started to pull when junior Garrison Glowniak converted a three-point play. Then, after an AU miss, he hit two more free throws.

Senior John Cording hit two free throws, followed by one from Stueck to build a 10-point lead with 33 seconds to go. Aurora would hit a bucket, but Cording followed with two more free throws to finish the game.

All told, the Red and White hit on 8-of-9 free throws down the stretch, while limiting the visitors to 1-for-4 shooting with two turnovers and two blocked shots in the final 1:30 of regulation.

The first half was back and forth, with each team building seven-point leads. It was the Red and White that took a five-point lead into halftime at 32-27.

Aurora, which had the last bucket of the first half, scored the first nine points of the second to pull ahead 36-34 at the 16:56 mark. The scored was close until junior Nathan Verdun broke a 42-42 draw with five-straight points. He first converted an old fashioned three-point play, then followed with a layup to put the Raiders ahead 47-42 at 11:05.

The scored remained close, with MSOE's lead fluctuating between three and six points until Laskowski made it a two-point game at 59-57 with 2:34 to go.

MSOE returns to action Tuesday, hosting Edgewood at the Kern Center.