Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

Jan. 4, 2016 - The North Central College men's basketball team has claimed the first College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Player of the Week Award in the new calendar year, as sophomore forward Alex Sorenson has received the distinction for the week of Dec. 28-Jan. 3. The CCIW announced this week's selection on Monday.

Sorenson became the first Cardinal to receive the conference's weekly honor after leading North Central to a pair of victories last week. In Wednesday's 69-65 victory at Robert Morris University-Chicago, Sorenson finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds and tied a single-game school record with six blocked shots. All six blocks came in the second half, as North Central erased a 41-31 hafltime deficit and limited the Eagles, then ranked No. 16 nationally among NAIA teams, to 21 percent shooting (8 of 37) from the floor in the final 20 minutes.

On Saturday, the Cardinals (8-4, 1-0 CCIW) opened CCIW play with a 76-64 win over North Park University. Sorenson scored 24 points on 9 of 10 shooting from the floor, including a 4 for 5 effort from three-point range, and again turned in game-high totals of 14 rebounds and six blocks. He is North Central's leader thus far this season in scoring (17.4 points per game), rebounding (8.3 per game) and leads the CCIW with 2.33 blocks per game.

The Cardinals resume CCIW play on Wednesday, hosting Millikin University (6-6, 0-1). Tipoff at Gregory Arena is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Links to live audio and in-game statistics, as well as a live video broadcast by Naperville Community Television (NCTV), can be accessed by clicking HERE.