Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
AURORA, Ill. (Nov. 28, 2015) - No lead was safe in Saturday's men's basketball game at Aurora University's Thornton Gymnasium, as the North Central College men's basketball team lost by a 95-92 count to the Spartans in a contest which saw both teams erase sizable deficits.
The Cardinals (1-2) suffered a second straight loss despite getting double-figure scoring efforts from five players and turning a 10-point deficit into a 17-point lead before halftime against an Aurora team which remains unbeaten at 3-0 this season.
North Central struggled early on the defensive end to contain the Spartans' dribble penetration and hot early three-point shooting. After yielding nine straight points, the Cardinals called a timeout with 13:04 on the first-half clock, trailing, 18-8. A jump shot by Jagger Anderson and a layup by Aiden Chang slowed the bleeding shortly after the stoppage, but the visitors did not make a serious bid for the lead until Kevin Honn sank a three-pointer, drew a charge on the defensive end, then scored on a layup to close the gap to 25-24 and prompt an Aurora timeout with 7:30 before halftime.
The Cardinals stayed hot, taking the lead when Anderson lobbed an inbounds pass to Connor Raridon for a layup. Honn added a pair of free throws, Aiden Chang knocked down a three-pointer and Alex Sorenson converted a layup in succession to boost North Central's lead to 33-25 with 5:00 on the clock, completing a run of 16 straight points. The Cardinals extended their lead to 51-35 by halftime, as Erwin Henry scored the team's last seven points of the period on two three-pointers, one of which was turned into a rare four-point play after he was fouled on the shot. North Central shot 56.7 percent (17 of 30) from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, including a 6 of 10 effort from three-point range.
Aurora began chipping away at the Cardinals' lead soon after halftime, and the hosts scored 11 straight points to trail, 61-59, with 12:04 to play. Buckets from Sorenson and Raridon and a pair of free throws by Honn gave North Central some breathing room at 67-60, and the guests stayed in front until the Spartans' Nick Kladis hit a free throw to tie the score at 73-73 with 6:10 left.
Anderson sank two charity shots, then sank a three-pointer on a pass from Raridon on consecutive possessions to put the Cardinals back in front, 78-73. Undaunted, Aurora kept the pressure on and took its first lead of the period on Kalmon Stokes' three-pointer with 3:17 left. Raridon and Chang each went 2 for 2 at the line before Stokes sank another triple to tie the score once again, 85-85. Raridon hit twice more from the free-throw line, which the Spartans' Tyler Hall answered with a reverse layup, and Anderson hit a three-pointer before Hall drove the lane for another bucket to leave North Central with a 90-89 edge.
The Spartans' Ty Carlson scored on a tip-in to give the home team the lead once again at 91-90 with 33 seconds left. Anderson attempted to hit his fourth three-pointer of the contest, but the shot was off the mark. Kladis grabbed the rebound and was fouled, making both free throws to extend the lead to 93-90. Raridon scored in the paint to close the gap to one point, but Jovon Griffin responded with two more free throws on the other end to seal the win for Aurora.
Sorenson led the Cardinals with 21 points on 8 of 12 shooting, while Raridon put up 20 points and 10 rebounds for the first double-double of his young collegiate career. Anderson put up 15 points and a game-high eight assists, while Honn added 14 points and Chang scored 12. Stokes made 10 of 16 shots and 6 of 10 three-pointers to lead all scorers with 28 points, and Hall made 9 of 13 shots, including all four of his three-pointers, to put up 25 points.
North Central travels to face the University of Wisconsin-Platteville (3-2) on Thursday. Tipoff at Williams Fieldhouse is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
