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

Box Score
 
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (Jan. 29, 2020) - Playing from behind for most of the night, the North Central College men's basketball team threatened to pull level with Illinois Wesleyan University on several occasions Wednesday night at the Shirk Center, but the Titans had just enough answers in crunch time to hand the Cardinals their first loss since early December, 77-71.
 
IWU shot 56.0 percent (28 of 50) from the floor and scored 22 points off of 16 Cardinal turnovers, ultimately taking the lead for good after an extended scoring run midway through the first half.
 
With the score level at 8-8 after seven minutes, North Central (15-4, 8-2 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) got three-pointers from Will Clausel and Aaron Jones to take a 14-11 lead. The Titans, however, countered with seven straight points to pull ahead, 18-14.
 
After the stoppage in play, the hosts kept the pressure on and extended their advantage to 27-19 with 6:32 left in the first half after another 7-0 surge. The Titans took their largest lead at 34-24, though North Central answered quickly with threes from Michael Pollack and Matt Helwig and a three-point play by Aiden Chang. IWU wound up taking a 42-34 edge into halftime.
 
The Cardinals made their first four shots after the break and regained the lead at 45-44 following a three-pointer by Matt Cappelletti. The visitors, however, went scoreless for the next four minutes, and an 11-3 rally pushed IWU back in front.
 
Successive inside baskets by Clausel, Cappelletti and Blaise Meredith closed the gap to 58-56 with 7:30 to go, but the Titans stayed a step ahead with a jumper from Matthew Leritz and a pair of free throws by Luke Yoder. North Central had possession facing a 62-59 deficit with just under five minutes, but turned the ball over. On the ensuing possession, Yoder was fouled converting a layup and missed the free throw, but IWU grabbed the rebound and scored again to boost its lead to seven.
 
Connor Raridon paced the Cardinals with 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists, while Cappelletti totaled 12 points and seven boards. Raridon now has 1,660 points in his career, tying him with Steve Hoeft '73 for third on the program's all-time scoring list.
 
Yoder, Leritz and Keondre Schumacher each put up 17 points for the Titans.
 
North Central returns home to host North Park University (4-15, 2-8). Tipoff at Gregory Arena is set for 7:00 p.m.  Click HERE for live coverage options.

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