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

Box Score
 
WAUKESHA, Wis. (Feb. 15, 2020) - Persisting in its recently-adopted pattern of building a large early lead and protecting it with defense, the North Central College men's basketball team assured itself of at least a share of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) championship Saturday with a 59-55  victory over Carroll University at Van Male Fieldhouse.

The Cardinals (19-4, 12-2 CCIW) claim the seventh CCIW regular-season title in their history and their first since 2012. North Central can secure the championship outright with a victory at home against Carthage College on Wednesday.

The Cardinals led virtually the entire game and began the run that would ultimately define the game on Aiden Chang's pullup jump shot gave the visitors a 21-16 lead. The bucket ignited a 14-3 surge over the next six minutes that increased the advantage to 33-19. Carroll (11-12, 4-10) was able to close the period with a 6-0 run to narrow the gap to 33-25 by halftime.

The Pioneers kept their momentum up after the break, scoring seven of the first nine points in the second half and trailing by just a 35-32 count after David Anilus' three-pointer with 17:06 to play. North Central responded with back-to-back threes from Matt Cappelletti and Connor Raridon, but the Pioneers soon bounced back and threatened to wrestle the lead away on multiple occasions.

Carroll scored seven straight points in a four-minute stretch to trail by just a 54-53 count with 1:44 left. Raridon and Blaise Meredith each made a pair of free throws in the final 12 seconds to seal the victory as the Cardinals denied the hosts on their final two offensive possessions.

Cappelletti led all scorers with 18 points on 8 of 11 shooting and also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, while Meredith scored 13 and made 8 of 10 charity shots.

Wednesday's game against Carthage will be North Central's final home contest of the regular season. Tipoff at Gregory Arena is set for 7 p.m. Click HERE for live coverage options.

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