FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Box Score
WHEATON, Ill. (Jan. 25, 2014) - A physical defensive battle came down to a few possessions Saturday evening at King Arena, as the North Central College men's basketball team fought back from a first-half deficit to take a lead in the second period before losing a 59-46 decision to the Wheaton College Thunder.
The Cardinals (9-9, 2- 5 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) were undone by an offensive dry spell of more than eight minutes late in the game, posting their lowest scoring total of the season and losing for the seventh time in the last nine games.
After a back-and-forth first seven minutes of play, the score stood tied at 11-11 before Wheaton (12-6, 5-2 CCIW) went on a 7-2 run to pull ahead, 20-13. The Cardinals bounced back by scoring eight of the next 11 points, including two three-pointers from Brandon Williams, to narrow the gap to 23-21 before Vince Kmiec's steal and layup tied the score at 23-23 with 1:30 to play in the first half. Wheaton's Brayden Teuscher sank two free throws to move the hosts back in front with 55 seconds before the break, and the Thunder went into halftime with a 25-24 advantage.
North Central opened the second half with a pair of inside baskets from Jack Burchett and another from Landon Gamble to take the lead for the first time, and the Cardinals owned a 34-31 advantage after Gamble fed Kmiec for a layup on a backdoor cut with 13:29 to play. North Central, however, missed its next eight shots and fell behind for good after Wheaton scored the next nine points.
After tying the game at 34-34 on Teuscher's tip-in, the Thunder took the lead on Peter Smith's three-pointer from the right corner. North Central's Tyler Sutton prevented further damage by drawing a charge on Wheaton's next trip down the floor and Burchett knocked down a turnaround jumper, but the basket was negated as Burchett was whistled for an offensive foul. Smith knocked down another three-pointer from the right corner on the Thunder's next possession to extend the home team's lead to 40-34 with 8:11 left.
The Cardinals missed five of their next six shots and watched Wheaton put the game away at the free-throw line, making 14 straight charity shots over the final seven minutes. Wheaton wound up making 20 of 23 free throws in the second half and were not threatened the rest of the way. North Central was limited to 7 of 22 shooting (31.8 percent) in the final 20 minutes.
Gamble and Williams scored 12 points each for the Cardinals as Williams continued his recent emergence as a perimeter shooting threat. After attempting only six three-point field goals in the first 16 games of the season, Williams has made 5 of 8 shots from beyond the arc in the last two contests, including a 3 of 5 effort against Wheaton. Kmiec totaled 11 points and five rebounds.
Tyler Peters was the only Wheaton player to score in double figures, totaling 20 points, while Nate Haynes grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
The Cardinals travel to face Augustana College (15-3, 5-2) on Saturday. Tipoff at the Carver Center is scheduled for 7 p.m. Links to live video and in-game statistics can be found by clicking HERE.
