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Box Score

ALBION, Mich. (Dec. 1, 2011) - The North Central College men's basketball team came within one possession of is first road victory of the season at Albion College on Thursday, but a three-pointer on the Britons' final possession condemned the Cardinals to a 61-60 loss at Kresge Gymnasium.

The loss spoiled the superb individual performances by North Central's CJ Goldthree and Aaron Tiknis, each of whom achieved season highs in scoring. Goldthree put up a game-high 22 points and led the Cardinals with five rebounds while playing all 40 minutes, and Tiknis put up 15 points despite playing limited minutes due to foul trouble.

The Cardinals (3-2) struggled to find their rhythm on offense early, missing their first eight shots as Albion led throughout the first half. The Britons extended their lead to its largest at 30-22 with under a minute remaining in the first half, but a jumper from Goldthree and a putback by Charlie Rosenberg helped North Central slash the lead to 30-26 at the break.

The visitors took their first lead after Tiknis' three-pointer early in the second period, but Albion (3-2) scored the next eight points and got back in front, 40-33. The Britons led, 46-37, after Mike Smith's steal and dunk with 12:02 to play,  but consecutive three-point plays by Goldthree and Tiknis got the Cardinals started on the comeback trail, and Tiknis added another jumper before VInce Kmiec gave North Central the lead once again with a three-pointer to leave the score at 50-47 with 8:16 on the clock.

Tiknis tacked on a layup and Goldthree sank a free throw as the Cardinals extended their advantage to 53-47. Albion scored seven of the next eight points and led briefly at 55-54, and Goldthree canned a three-pointer before the Britons' Sean Hendon knocked down two free throws to knot the score at 57-57 with 3:03 left.

Rosenberg came through with another putback and Goldthree sank one of two free throws to put the Cardinals in front once again at 60-57. A free throw by Smith was all the offense Albion could manage in the final two minutes before the home team's final possession. After calling a time out with under 10 seconds remaining, Albion's Luke Walker fired a pass to Alex Harville in the deep right corner, and Harville launched a three-pointer which fell through the net with 2.8 seconds to play. The Cardinals threw the ball to mid-court and called a time out to set up a last-second shot attempt, but the inbound pass was knocked away.

Smith was Albion's scoring leader with 11 points. Junior forward Kolin Kazen, who had averaged 22.0 points per game prior to Thursday's contest, was held to nine points.

The Cardinals are idle until Saturday, Dec. 10, when they travel to face Simpson College (Iowa). Tipoff at Cowles Fieldhouse is scheduled for 2 p.m.