A win is a win is a win. And that is most definitely the mantra of the Houn' Dawgs Tuesday night after escaping with a narrow 54-50 win at East Newton.

Aurora (8-10, 2-1) led 11-8 after the first quarter and then outscored the Patriots 15-6 in the second, including an 11-2 run to open the second quarter, to take a 12-point cushion into the halftime locker room, 26-14.

But in the third East Newton outscored Aurora by three, 13-10, and then the Patriots began to hit from outside in the final stanza, nailing three straight long-range treys to pull to within one late in the fourth. But the Houn' Dawgs shot just good enough from the free-throw line and caused two turnovers down the stretch to earn the Big 8 Conference win.

Three Houn' Dawgs scored in double figures in the win, with Garrett Bader leading the way with 17. Corey Gregory added 12 off the bench and freshman Josh Fronabarger had 10, all in the first half.

Aurora's next action will be Homecoming night, Friday, Feb. 1, when the Houn's will host Seneca.