Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324
NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Dec. 4, 2021) - Shooting 57% from the field and 63% from deep, the North Central College men's basketball team exploded for 91 points in a 91-59 win over Carthage College in their first College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) game of the season.
The Firebirds opened the game with an 8-0 lead before Matthew Helwig constructed a seven-point swing of his own to put the Cardinals right back in the game. With the game knotted at 13, Helwig knocked down a jumper as North Central scored the next seven points.
A layup from Blaise Meredith gave the Cardinals a seven-point advantage with 5:54 to play in the half. Shea Cupples hit his first three of the game before Helwig closed out the half with a three-pointer as North Central headed into halftime with a 41-31 edge.
Carthage scored the first four points of the half before an Ethan Helwig layup put the Cardinals back up by 10 with 17:13 to go. Cupples hit another three to give North Central a 14-point advantage, 54-40. John Blumeyer scored a basket before M. Helwing hit another three to push the Cardinal's advantage to 19.
With 7:34 to play, a layup from E. Helwig sparked a 20-4 run for North Central who pulled away from Carthage and earned their fifth win of the year with a 91-59 victory. North Central shot 63% (12/19) from beyond the arc, good for seventh in program history.
M. Helwig scored 31 points with nine rebounds and seven assists for North Central, all of which led the Cardinals. E. Helwig added 25 points while Cupples tallied 11 points. For Carthage, Fillip Bulatovic posted 19 points with Kyle Czerak recording 15 points.
North Central faces the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Saturday at 7 PM inside of the Kolf Sports Center. You can find links to in-game coverage HERE.
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