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

First/Second Round Tournament Information

Mar. 1, 2017 - In the NCAA Division III Championship field for the fourth time in six seasons, the North Central College men's basketball team looks to build upon its momentum from a successful CCIW Tournament run to extend their season further as the Cardinals travel to Hanover College (Indiana) for first- and second-round games this weekend.

North Central and the College of Wooster (Ohio) will play in Friday's first game, tipping off at 5:30 p.m. Eastern time, followed by host Hanover taking on Westminster College (Missouri) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday's second-round game between Friday's winners is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. tipoff. North Central has never faced Wooster (21-7), Hanover (23-3) or Westminster (19-8) in men's basketball.

The Cardinals (17-10) received the CCIW's automatic bid to the championship by winning its fourth CCIW Tournament title, defeating top-seeded Carthage, 87-85, in the semifinals before a 69-64 win in the championship game over Augustana. North Central is the first team to win the CCIW Tournament as the No. 4 seed in the four-team event. 

The Cardinals led by as many as 23 points in Friday's semifinal game before a furious Carthage rally briefly put the hosts in front. The score was tied, 85-85, with 4.2 seconds to play before Aiden Chang dribbled through the Red Men's defense and sank a running 12-foot jump shot as time expired.

North Central led for most of the championship game and took the lead for good with 14:50 to play. Chang once again sealed the win with the game's final basket, as Jagger Anderson's steal led to an uncontested layup with four seconds left. Anderson averaged a team-high 18.0 points per game in the tournament, while Alex Sorenson put up 17.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocked shots per game.

The Cardinals shot 52.9 percent (18 of 34) from three-point range in the CCIW Tournament. Over the past five contests, North Central has made 48 of 115 shots (41.7 percent) from beyond the arc, its best long-distance shooting proficiency this season. The Cardinals have made 192 three-pointers this season, nine short of the single-season school record of 201 set just last season.

North Central is in the NCAA Tournament for the ninth time. The Cardinals have an 8-9 all-time record in the tournament and have made the field in four of the past six seasons. North Central lost in the first round of last year's tournament, 80-78, to St. Olaf College (Minnesota). The Cardinals advanced to the national semifinals for the first time in 2013.

The winner of Saturday's second-round game will advance to sectional play next weekend against the team which emerges from the pod of games at Hope College. Hope will play the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Washington University in St. Louis will take on Ripon College in the first round.

Sorenson has blocked 49 shots this season, the second-highest single-season total in the Cardinals' history. He has blocked 108 shots in his career,  breaking the previous North Central record of 74 held by Anthony Simmons '07. 

Sorenson set a single-season school record with 59 blocked shots last season. He also ranks sixth in North Central's history in career points per game (16.5) and rebounds per game (8.4), while Anderson ranks second in career assists per game (3.6). Chang ranks sixth all-time in single-season free-throw percentage (.859).