Contact: Louis Groce, Graduate Assistant to the Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

(Nov. 16, 2012) – The North Central College men's basketball team, ranked No. 6 in the preseason D3hoops.com poll, scored the first 26 points and cruised to a, 73-20, victory over Illinois Institute of Technology on Friday night in the first round of the 2012 Chicago Marriott Naperville Tip-Off Tournament at Gregory Arena. 

Box Score

Six different Cardinals scored in the 26-0 spurt, with Jack Burchett and Derek Raridon contributing seven points apiece.  Illinois Tech scored its first points on a layup by Alex Babusci with 10:21 left to play in the first half. 

North Central held Illinois Tech to just 9.5% shooting in the first half and out rebounded the Scarlet Hawks 26-11 to take a commanding 48-4 advantage to the locker room. 

The second half brought more of the same as the Cardinal lead swelled to 48 points, 59-11, on a layup by Adam LeTourneau with 13:27 to go in the game.  Vince Kmiec and David Fuller each scored five points in the second half to lead the way for the Cardinals. 

Ian Sission led the way for the Scarlet Hawks as he chipped in all eight of his points in the second frame. 

For the game, North Central shot 53.6% from the floor, while knocking down 33% of their threes (6-18).  The North Central defense held the Illinois Tech offense in check all evening as they posted four blocks and nineteen steals in holding the visitors to just 18.6% shooting. 

Raridon had a game-high 12 points to go with five rebounds and four assists, while Burchett added 11 points to lead North Central's 14 scorers. 

Sission scored a team-leading eight points and added six boards to lead Illinois Tech. 

Illinois Tech (0-1) takes the floor at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow against the College of Faith (0-1), while the Cardinals advance to the championship game against No. 7 Hope College (1-0) at 7:30 p.m.