FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Box Score
ALLIANCE, Ohio (Dec. 27, 2014) - After a 10-day break from competition, the North Central College men's basketball team took its time getting out of the gate in Saturday's first game of the University of Mount Union M-Club Classic, but the Cardinals soon found their rhythm and cruised to a 76-54 win over Olivet College (Michigan) at the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex.
North Central (9-1) earned its third straight win after getting to the free-throw line 23 times in the first half alone, shooting 58.1 percent (18 of 31) from the floor in the second half and forcing a season-high 21 turnovers.
The Cardinals trailed for most of the first eight minutes of play after missing their first six shots from the field. Facing an 11-8 deficit, North Central moved in front for the first time when Charles Rosenberg scored in the post and fed Erwin Henry for a baseline jumper on consecutive possessions. After a Jack Burchett free throw, Rosenberg put together a three-point play to score seven points in an 8-0 run that left the Cardinals ahead, 16-11, with 9:23 on the first-half clock.
Rosenberg and Burchett each scored four points in a 9-1 rally that pushed the first-period lead to 29-18 with 1:23 left. Olivet got two free throws from Matt Subject and, after forcing a turnover, had a chance to cut further into its deficit. Henry, however, was fouled rebounding a missed shot and made both free throws, and David Fuller came up with a steal and was fouled just before time ran out, making one of two attempts to send the Cardinals into halftime with a 32-20 advantage.
North Central scored half of its points from the free-throw line in the opening 20 minutes, making 16 of 23 shots after drawing 17 fouls by the Comets, and scored 11 points off of 12 Olivet turnovers.
The Comets (2-8) worked quickly to close the gap after the break ended, as Kevin Woodson scored his first points of the game on back-to-back three-pointers to open play and Olivet went on to score the first 10 points of the period in less than two minutes. Burchett scored inside on a pass from Henry to interrupt the run and wound up triggering a 14-4 surge during which he scored eight points, including a breakaway dunk off a steal by Jayme Moten which extended the Cardinals' lead to 46-34 and prompted an Olivet timeout with 13:39 to play.
Subject's three-pointer with 10:53 to play cut the lead to single digits for the final time at 50-43, but Evan Fendley sank a three-pointer and Rosenberg completed another three-point play to push the threat aside. The final score represented North Central's largest lead of the evening.
Rosenberg turned in 22 points and seven rebounds to go with a career-high nine assists, the highest total by any Cardinal this season. Burchett finished with 19 points on 8 of 11 shooting and a team-high eight rebounds, while Henry tied his season highs for points (11), rebounds (5) and assists (3). Subject and Woodson shared Olivet's team lead in scoring with 12 points each.
The Cardinals conclude their non-conference schedule at the M-Club Classic on Sunday, taking on Adrian College (Michigan) at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time. Links to live video and in-game statistics can be accessed by clicking HERE.
