FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Box Score
Dec. 1, 2010 - The North Central College men's basketball team secured its first home victory of the season on Wednesday, turning up the pressure on the defensive end and defeating Albion College, 72-64, at Gregory Arena.
Pressing and trapping in the full court for most of the game, the Cardinals (2-4) scored 19 points off of turnovers and moved the ball efficiently on offense. North Central recorded assists on 19 of its 24 made field goals.
The Britons (2-3) opened the game with a 7-4 advantage, but a Vince Kmiec three-pointer tied the score and Brian Evans scored on the fast break to give North Central its first lead at 9-7. The game was tied three more times before a 7-0 Cardinal surge, including two free throws and a three-pointer by Kevin Gillespie, nudged the hosts in front, 22-15, and North Central would not trail again.
The Cardinals took their first double-digit lead shortly before the half, moving ahead, 37-27, after a jumper by Derek Raridon. Albion scored the first eight points of the second half and narrowed the gap to 37-35 on Kolin Kazen's tip-in dunk with 17:56 on the clock.
Following a North Central timeout, Kmiec drilled another three to start the Cardinals on an 18-5 run to leave the hosts with a 55-40 advantage. The hosts took their largest lead at 63-45 following a trio of free throws by Gillespie with 4:42 to play.
Albion's comeback attempt began in earnest shortly thereafter, as the Britons' Alex Harville scored 10 points in a two-minute stretch to narrow the gap to 65-56. Harville later came through with a steal and layup, then knocked down a three-pointer with 1:09 to play to cut the Cardinals' lead to 69-64. Raridon staved off the rally by knocking down three out of four free throws in the final 22 seconds.
Gillespie established a new career high in scoring for the second straight game, compiling 16 points, while Kmiec scored 14 to go with five assists and Raridon finished with 11 points. Jack Burchett grabbed a team-high seven rebounds for North Central.
J.C. Cruse scored a game-high 17 points for Albion, with Harville adding 15 and Kazen scoring 10.
The Cardinals host Lake Forest College (2-1) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
