Justin Ward (Sr.-Wisconsin Dells, Wis.), James Oshkeshequoam (Sr.-Keshena, Wis.) and Joey Burris (Jr.-Kiel, Wis.) combined for 58 points and the Lakeland College men's basketball team edged Aurora (Ill.) University 86-84 Saturday afternoon.

The Muskies and Spartans put on another offensive show for the fans, with Lakeland coming out on top for the third time in the two teams' last four meetings. The teams combined for 23 three-pointers, swapped the lead 18 times and were tied on nine other occasions, but the Muskies stayed a step ahead down the stretch and improved to 12-4 overall this season.

Lakeland also picked up an important win for the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference standings, improving to 8-4 in conference play while Aurora dropped to 11-6 overall and 8-4 in the NACC. The Muskies also swept the season series from the Spartans, clinching a tiebreaker should the two teams finish tied with each other in the conference standings at the end of the season.

Lakeland battled back from an early 10-point deficit after Aurora got off to its seemingly perennial strong start against the Muskies. The Spartans led 18-8 just five minutes into the game after hitting seven of their first 10 shots.

The Muskies rallied back quickly on the strength of seven first half three-pointers, and the game settled into a tight, back-and-forth affair. Aurora led 41-40 at halftime, and neither team led by more than five in the second half.

The second half featured five ties and 16 lead changes. The Spartans never led by more than two points, and Lakeland finally gained a slight advantage late. Aurora took its final lead at 75-74 on a layup by Brandon Smith with 4:25 to play, but the Muskies went ahead for good on a layup by Stan McKenzie (Sr.-Racine, Wis.) on their next possession.

Lakeland got a stop, and Ward scored inside for a 78-75 lead, and Aurora never got closer than a point the rest of the way. Free throws were critical down the stretch, and the Muskies made just enough, splitting their final eight free shots.

Aurora stayed within a possession the final two minutes, and had multiple chances to tie. The Spartans had the ball with under a minute to play down two but turned it over, and Aurora had a last chance in the final seconds but Scott Laskowski's three-point attempt just before the buzzer missed.

Ward finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, Oshkeshequoam scored 19 and Burris added 16 for the Muskies, who shot 46.7% (28 of 60) and hit 12 of 29 three-point tries. Brandon Hagenow (So.-Sussex, Wis.) added nine points.

Smith scored 21 to lead the Spartans, who shot 49.2% (29 of 59) and drilled 11 of 27 from three-point range. Aurora won the rebounding battle 39-32, but also committed 19 turnovers to the Muskies' 14.

Lakeland is back home Wednesday when it hosts the Milwaukee School of Engineering at 7 p.m.