FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Box Score
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (Jan. 22, 2014) - The North Central College men's basketball team matched the No. 4-ranked team in the nation stride for stride for most of Wednesday evening, but the Cardinals fell victim to an ill-timed dry spell and lost, 72-57, to Illinois Wesleyan University at the Shirk Center.
The Cardinals (9-8, 2-4 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) shot 53.7 percent (22-41) from the floor in a game which saw both teams operate with a high level of efficiency on offense. A stretch of just over four minutes without a field goal late in the game, however, allowed IWU to gain enough breathing room to deny North Central's upset bid.
North Central led briefly in the early going, never by more than two points, before the Titans (15-2, 5-1 CCIW) pulled ahead and took a four-point lead at 15-11 with 11:52 on the first-half clock. The Cardinals' Vince Kmiec and Tyler Sutton knocked down consecutive jumpers to tie the score at 15-15, but IWU scored seven of the next eight points, getting two inside baskets from Andrew Ziemnik and a three-pointer from Michael Mayberger, to take a 22-16 advantage.
Kmiec and Sutton shot the visitors back in front from the outside, as Kmiec sank two three-pointers and Sutton added another to give North Central a 25-24 lead with 4:08 before halftime. The Titans moved back in front with inside buckets from Mayberger and Dylan Overstreet before Jack Burchett closed the half with a jumper in the lane to leave the Cardinals with just a 28-27 deficit at the break.
Though it never led in the second period, North Central tied the score four times in the second half, the last of which occurred at 43-43 with 11:05 to play. Mayberger converted a three-point play, which Landon Gamble answered with a basket in the post before Overstreet sank a pair of free throws. Gamble added a free throw with 10:09 to play and left the score at 48-46 in the Titans' favor, but the Cardinals did not score again until 6:20 remained.
North Central went 0 for 3 from the floor with three turnovers in the next four minutes, during which time the Titans scored six straight points to extend their lead to 54-46. Burchett scored inside to slow the rally, but IWU got consecutive buckets from Ziemnik and Pat Sodemann to take its first double-digit lead at 58-48 with 5:25 left.
The Titans led by at least seven points the rest of the way and wound up shooting 61.9 percent (13-21) in the second half and 59.5 percent (25-42) for the game.
Kmiec led the Cardinals with 15 points and five rebounds, while Brandon Williams totaled a season-high 14 points and Gamble finished with a team-best four assissts.
Ziemnik led five double-figure scorers for IWU with 18 points on 8 of 10 shooting while grabbing a team-high five rebounds. Mayberger put up 14 points in 14 minutes off the bench and Overstreet totaled 12 points and four assists.
The Cardinals travel to face Wheaton College (11-6, 4-2) on Saturday. Tipoff at King Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m. Links to live video, audio and in-game statistics can be found by clicking HERE.
