FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Box Score
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (Feb. 27, 2015) - Despite a prolific perimeter shooting effort, the North Central College men's basketball team saw its run in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament come to an end on Friday, as the fourth-seeded Cardinals lost, 82-76, at No. 1-seeded Augustana College.
The Cardinals (18-8) made 11 of 18 three-point shots (61.1 percent), led by junior guard Jayme Moten's 8-of-12 effort from beyond the arc. Moten finished with 28 points, the highest total for any North Central player this season, on 9 of 13 shooting from the floor. Augustana, however, made 10 straight field-goal attempts late in the second half to keep the Cardinals at bay and advance to Saturday's championship game.
North Central trailed most of the first half on Friday, staying in the game thanks to three triples from Moten and another from Fuller in the opening 11 minutes. The Cardinals tied the score at 24-24 on Kevin Honn's driving layup with just under two minutes to play, but Augustana (22-4) got three free throws in four attempts before Charles Rosenberg found Honn for another layup just before the buzzer to send the game into halftime at a score of 27-26 in the Vikings' favor.
After surrendering a three-pointer to open the second half, the Cardinals got a baseline jumper and a jump hook from Rosenberg and a three-pointer from Moten to pull in front, 33-30, with 17:53 on the clock. Augustana fought back to tie the score three times in the next six minutes, the last of which came at 39-39, before the Vikings got two free throws from Jawan Straughter and a jumper from Hunter Hill to pull ahead, 43-39.
Hill then took center stage for the game-clinching rally, as he scored 16 of the Vikings' 26 points over the next eight minutes as Augustana made 10 straight shots from the floor. The hosts led by as many as 12 points late in the game, though two three-pointers from Moten and third from Evan Fendley in the final minute narrowed the gap to four points in the final few seconds.
Rosenberg complemented Moten's efforts with 17 points, six rebounds and three assists. The Cardinals shot 55.1 percent (27 of 49) in the game, including a 58.6 percent clip (17 of 29) in the second half.
Hill finished with 27 points, 24 of which came in the second half, and seven rebounds for the Vikings, who also got 13 points each from Straughter and Nic Hoepfner.
Pairings and site selections for the 2015 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship will be announced Monday at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time at ncaa.com.
