Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
WAUKESHA, Wis. (Jan. 11, 2017) - Its comeback effort stunted by an uncharacteristic rash of turnovers, the North Central College men's basketball team absorbed a fourth straight loss on Wednesday by a 72-65 count at Carroll University.
The Cardinals (8-7, 2-4 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) saw the hosts knock down four three-pointers in the first five minutes of play and build an early double-digit lead, and committed a season-high 21 turnovers which prevented them from leveling the score.
The Pioneers opened the evening with a 12-2 surge and remained in front throughout. North Central closed the gap to 21-16 on
Alex Sorenson's three-pointer before a 10-3 Carroll run which led to the home team's largest lead of the first half at 31-19. The Cardinals'
Nick Chambers countered with two three-pointers to cut into the deficit once again, and the guests went into halftime trailing, 35-28.
North Central opened the second half with six straight points, including another three from Sorenson and a fast-break layup by
Jagger Anderson, and trailed by a single point on three occasions early in the period. The Pioneers (8-6, 3-2 CCIW) built their lead back up to six points at 55-49 before
Aiden Chang knocked down a three-pointer to cut the margin in half. Carroll, however, responded with a layup by Kale Maupin and a three-pointer by Tanner Zaeske to lead, 60-52, and prompt a Cardinal timeout with 6:18 to play.
North Central got back to within three points twice, the latter coming on
Erwin Henry's driving layup with 2:40 on the clock, but the Pioneers' Ben Widdes drove for a layin of his own and Zaeske hit from the perimeter again to put the contest out of reach.
Henry and Chambers each scored 15 points to share the Cardinals' scoring lead, while Sorenson contributed 12 points, eight rebounds and a season-high five blocked shots. Zaeske led all scorers with 24 points for Carroll.
The Cardinals are idle until Wednesday, Jan. 18, when they travel to face Wheaton College (6-8, 2-3). Tipoff at King Arena is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
