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

Feb. 7, 2018 - A rough start against a tough opponent proved to be too much to overcome for the North Central College men's basketball team Wednesday evening, as the Cardinals absorbed a 71-65 setback against 14th-ranked Augustana College in College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) play at Gregory Arena.

North Central (16-6, 9-4 CCIW) rallied from as many as 19 points down to make a game of it late in the contest, but never fully recovered from a first half which saw the hosts connect on just 6 of 29 shots from the floor (20.7 percent).

The Cardinals headed to halftime with a 32-16 deficit, and had difficulty closing down the gap despite seeing their shooting improve dramatically to 56.7 percent (17 of 30) over the final 20 minutes. A pair of three-pointers in a 34-second stretch by Alex Sorenson cut the lead to 65-57 with 3:26 to play. After the teams traded baskets twice, North Central got two free throws from Aiden Chang and an inside bucket from Sorenson to get within four points at 69-65 with 1:01 left.

Augustana (17-5, 9-4), however, denied the Cardinals on their final three offensive possessions to secure a second victory over North Central this season. The Vikings' Chrishawn Orange led all scorers with 22 points on 8 of 12 shooting, while Nolan Ebel scored 18 points.

Sorenson put up 19 points and seven rebounds for North Central, which also got 17 points from Mike Pollack. Connor Raridon contributed nine assists.

The Cardinals are idle until Wednesday, Feb. 14, when they host Carroll University (9-12, 5-7) in their final home game of the regular season. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.