FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Box Score
Dec. 31, 2013 - The North Central College men's basketball team came within seconds of closing the calendar year with a bang Tuesday at Gregory Arena, threatening to score a victory over the No. 1-ranked team in the nation before the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point escaped with a narrow 66-64 win.
The game was not decided until the final possession, as the Pointers' Tyler Tillema sank what turned out to be the game-winner from the top of the key with 2.6 seconds to play. A well-designed full-court out-of-bounds play enabled the Cardinals' Tyler Sutton to loft a three-point shot from the corner at the buzzer, but the shot was off the mark.
A hotly-contested first half saw five ties and seven lead changes. North Central (7-4) led by as many as four points on three occasions before the Pointers rallied and tied the score at 25-25 on Joe Ritchay's layup with under a minute on the clock. The Cardinals moved in front on Jack Burchett's inside bucket on the next possession, and Trevor Hass tied the score once again for Stevens Point in the final seconds.
North Central's Pat Rourke had just enough time to launch a three-point attempt from far beyond halfcourt, and the shot banked in to send the hosts into the halftime break with a 30-27 lead.
The Cardinals led by as many as six points early in the second half and stayed in front until Tillema converted a layup with 9:53 to play, tying the score at 47-47. UWSP (11-0) scored 10 of the next 12 points, the final five coming from Tillema, and took its largest lead at 57-49 with 5:43 to go.
After calling a timeout, the Cardinals got their comeback started with a four-point possession. Sutton was fouled on a three-point shot and made the first two free throws. He missed the third, but Jack Burchett grabbed the rebound and scored on the putback to slash the lead in half.
Landon Gamble's layup with 2:50 left closed the deficit to 60-59 before Tillema found Stephen Pelkover for a layup with 2:28 on the clock. Sutton was fouled on another three-point attempt on the next trip down the floor, this time connecting on all three to tie the score with 1:51 to play.
Pelkover scored again in the lane with 41 seconds left. Following another timeout, the Cardinals worked the ball down low to Kmiec for a game-tying layup with 16 seconds left.
Gamble led the Cardinals with 17 points on 6 of 9 shooting. Burchett put up 15 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out with 5:05 to play, and Kmiec totaled 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Tillema scored a game-high 30 points, 19 of which came in the second half, and also led the Pointers with five rebounds and five assists. Hass putu p 20 points on 8 of 11 shooting.
The Cardinals open College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) play on Saturday, hosting North Park University (3-8) at Gregory Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Links to live video, audio and in-game statistics can be found by clicking HERE.
