Benedictine knocks Aurora out of NAC tournament

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Updated: February 21, 2012 10:58PM

At 5-foot-8, Nate Green is almost always the smallest player on the court.

There is nothing small about his heart or his talent.

When things got a little bit tighter than Benedictine University wanted Tuesday night at the Rice Center, Green made sure they didn’t get out of hand.

He hit a huge jump shot with the shot clock ticking down over Aurora University’s 6-5 Scott Laskowski with 1:03 remaining and the Eagles held on for an 86-83 victory in the quarterfinals of the Northern Athletics Conference Tournament.

“Nate’s a big difference maker for them out there,” AU head coach James Lancaster said. “Nate hit a very tough shot over Scott, you have to tip your hat to him.”

After working hard the first 20 minutes to get his teammates involved, Green became the center of the Eagle offense the final 20. He scored 19 of his game-high 27 points after intermission. Green also dished out seven assists.

Lancaster has seen this type of play out of the senior point guard for the last four years and is totally impressed.

“You get so close to these players and Nate hugged me before the game and he hugged me after the game,” Lancaster said. “It was a great (NCAA) Division III basketball game with tournament atmosphere.”

BU needed every second of Green’s play to slip past the Spartans. AU (13-13) also had several outstanding individual efforts.

Junior Ryan Crow scored a team-high 25 points, 17 the first half, and grabbed 13 rebounds. He was AU’s offense the first half.

Esteban Vega, a junior guard, was in foul trouble the first half and didn’t score. He saved it for the second half when he tossed in 19 points. And Joel Iventosch, another junior guard, added 11 points, including a three-point basket with 1:42 remaining that pulled the Spartans to within two points (80-78).

Then Green did his magic over Laskowski and the Eagles had their sixth straight victory over the Spartans.

“The fans got their money’s worth,” Lancaster said. “We gave them (the Eagles) our three best shots and they were equal all three times. I was proud of our guys. I thought we left it all out on the floor.”

So did Green.

“He’s a leader on the floor, he really has a flair for the ball,” Lancaster said. “I’d rather see him in street clothes and say hi to him after the game.”

That will happen next year.