WESTERVILLE, Ohio (Dec. 28, 2008) - The North Central College men's basketball team extended its current run of consecutive victories to five on Saturday, defeating the host institution in the first round of the Otterbein College Smokey Ballenger Classic, 73-56. The Cardinals then took on Baldwin-Wallace College (Ohio) in the championship game on Sunday, losing, 72-67.
North Central concludes non-conference play with a record of 8-3.
The Cardinals opened their first game of the weekend with a 15-2 run that spanned the first five minutes of play. The Cardinals took their biggest lead at 32-17 with 4:08 left in the first half, and Otterbein bounced back with an 11-2 surge that cut its deficit to 34-28 before Chris Drennan (Sr., Bloomington, Ill./Normal Community) closed the first half with a layup and sent the visitors into the break ahead, 36-28.
A strong start to the second half helped Otterbein (2-8) close to within a single point at 37-36, but two inside baskets by Drennan sandwiched a three-point play by Matt Rogers (Sr., Rochelle, Ill./Rochelle), boosting North Central's lead back up to 44-36 with 15:53 on the clock. A three-pointer by Mitch Raridon (Sr., Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Northeast) was followed by yet another bucket in the paint by Drennan, giving the Cardinals a double-digit advantage once again at 49-38.
Otterbein trailed, 54-46, when North Central embarked on a 15-3 run to take its biggest lead of the game at 69-49 with 2:32 left.
The Cardinals, who made 26 of 49 shots from the floor (53.1 percent), were led in scoring for the third straight game by Drennan, who sank 13 of 20 field-goal attempts for a career-high 26 points. Rogers tallied 14 points, with Reid Barringer (Jr., Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore) adding 13. Raridon led the team in rebounds (6), blocked shots (2), and steals (3), while Jon Knapczyk (Jr., Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central) turned in a team-leading four assists in his first collegiate start.
North Central opened the championship game with a 9-2 surge, though Baldwin-Wallace (4-7) recovered and went on a 10-2 run to take a 12-11 lead. The lead changed nine more times before the first half ended, as Drennan and Rogers scored the final two baskets of the opening period to put the Cardinals up, 38-35, at the buzzer.
After making 61.5 percent (16-26) of its field-goal attempts in the first half, North Central made just 9 of 30 shots (30.0 percent) after the break, but defended well enough to play the Yellow Jackets to a 60-60 stalemate with 3:13 left in the contest. Baldwin-Wallace, however, scored 10 of the next 13 points to pull away. The Jackets made 8 of 10 free throws in the final two minutes to stay in front.
Rogers scored a game-high 20 points in 21 minutes for the Cardinals, while Barringer put up 14 and Drennan scored 10. Drennan also finished with a career-high seven assists, while David Twyman (Jr., Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) grabbed eight rebounds.
Andrew Bene paced Baldwin-Wallace with 19 points and nine rebounds.
For their efforts, Drennan and Rogers were both named to the Smokey Ballenger Classic All-Tournament Team.
North Central hosts North Park University (Ill.) in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin opener for both teams on Wednesday, Jan. 7. Tipoff at Gregory Arena is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
