Contact: Elliott Carr, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302
 
Box Score

Dec 3., 2016 – Despite being down with just minutes left to play, the North Central College men's basketball team opened College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) play by showing poise down the stretch and defeating Illinois Wesleyan University 84-75 on Saturday night, at Gregory Arena.

The Cardinals finished with four players in double figures, led by junior center Alex Sorenson with 25. Sophomore forward Connor Raridon added 19 points to go along with eight rebounds and six assists, junior guard Erwin Henry contributed a double-double of 17 points, 13 rebounds as well as five assists. Senior guard Jagger Anderson also finished the game with 12 points, rounding out the balanced attack that led North Central to victory. North Central also dominated the rebounding count, 38-30.

The first half saw Trevor Seibring cause problems for the Cardinals, using his size and touch around the basket to finish with ten points on route to a 35-33 halftime lead for the Titans.

Coming out of halftime, the Cardinals went to Sorenson often, and he delivered 16 points in the half on array of post moves, while also connecting on two three-point shots. Despite his contributions, North Central was still unable to pull ahead of the Titans.

With the Cardinals trailing 66-65 with just 03:51 remaining, Raridon was fouled hard on a layup and connected on the free throw, for the three-point play that gave the Cardinals the lead. He then connected on a jump shot from in the paint, and assisted on an Andersen layup as part of an 8-0 run that swung the game in the Cardinals favor.

In the final minute of the game Henry was sent to the free throw line eight times, calmly sinking all of them to secure the win for North Central.

The Cardinals return to Gregory Arena on Wednesday 7:00 P.M., when they host Carthage College (4-2) Live in game statistics and video can be accessed by clicking here.