FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Box Score
Feb. 1, 2014 - Despite a sterling defensive effort, the North Central College men's basketball team saw its record in home games fall below .500 for the season on Saturday, as the Cardinals absorbed a 54-49 setback against Carthage College at Gregory Arena.
North Central (10-10, 3-6 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) dropped to 4-5 at home despite limiting the Red Men to 32.4 percent shooting from the floor and holding the guests without a field goal for the final 6:33 of the contest. Carthage, however, did manage to outscore the Cardinals, 6-1, over the final 3:17 as the hosts missed their final four shots.
The teams played to a 13-13 standstill in the first half before the Red Men (14-6, 7-2 CCIW) scored seven straight points to pull ahead, 20-13, with 7:13 on the clock. Vince Kmiec sank a three-pointer, then came up with a steal which led to a Pat Rourke layup, to narrow the gap before North Central regained the lead on two free throws by Kevin Honn. Carthage's Reese Herth knocked down a three-pointer with less than a minute to play, but the Cardinals' Brandon Williams countered with a triple of his own on the next possession to send North Central into halftime with a 28-27 edge.
Carthage scored seven of the first nine points in the second period and pulled ahead, 34-30. The Cardinals got a three-pointer from Kmiec and a layup from Williams to briefly regain the lead, and the Red Men's Malcom Kelly sank a three-pointer before Kmiec countered with a driving layup to leave the score tied at 37-37 with 15:32 to play.
Kelly scored the next six points of the game to spark an 8-0 Carthage run as the Cardinals missed their next four shots from the floor. Kevin Honn came through with a fast-break layup and a three-pointer to shift the momentum for North Central, and after four straight scoreless positions by both teams, Rourke converted a three-point play to knot the score at 48-48 with 3:17 left.
Carthage went 6 for 8 from the free-throw line from then on and pulled away for good, as three North Central starters wound up fouling out in a physical contest which featured 45 total fouls.
Williams led the Cardinals with 14 points, Kmiec totaled 12, and Honn put up nine points off the bench. Jack Burchett grabbed a team-best seven rebounds.
Carthage got a game-high 16 points from Kelly, while Reese Herth totaled 10 points and nine rebounds.
The Cardinals travel to face Millikin University (7-12, 1-7) on Wednesday. Tipoff at the Griswold Center is set for 7 p.m. Links to live video, audio and in-game statistics can be found by clicking HERE.
