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

Box Score

WHEATON, Ill. (Feb. 25, 2021) - A furious second-half rally featuring nine straight made field goals brought the North Central College men's basketball team into contention Thursday night after being dealt an early deficit, but the Wheaton College Thunder responded with just enough big plays in key moments to secure a 79-73 victory over the Cardinals at King Arena.

Wheaton made an early bid to run away with the contest, outscoring the Cardinals, 10-2, in the first three minutes and owning a 40-26 lead by halftime. North Central got its comeback bid started early in the second period when Brian Johnson sank two three-pointers in a 31-second span. The Cardinals (5-5) kept the heat on with a jump shot by Matthew Helwig, a three-pointer from Blaise Meredith, two inside buckets by Will Clausel and layups by Matt Smietanski and Helwig before tying the score at 49-49 on a Helwig three-pointer with 13:04 to play. North Central outscored the Thunder, 23-9, over the first seven minutes of the second half.

The fourth-ranked Thunder (10-0) struck back with a run of 10 straight points to pull back in front, leaving the Cardinals to play catch-up the rest of the way. Helwig and Meredith each buried three-pointers in the final 25 seconds of play to narrow the gap, but Wheaton was able to run out the clock to prevent any further drama.

The Cardinals shot 56.7 percent (17 of 30) from the floor in the final 20 minutes, dialing in for 66.7 percent accuracy (10 of 15) from behind the three-point stripe. Meredith led North Central in scoring with 22 points, making 5 of 7 three-pointers, while Helwig totaled 19 points on 8 of 12 shooting and posted team-high totals of six rebounds, five assists and three steals. 

Wheaton's Luke Anthony led all scorers with 28 points. Tyson Cruikshank scored 17 points for the Thunder, while Nyameye Adom scored 14 and Cade Alioth finished with 12 points and a game-high 18 rebounds.

The Cardinals host Wheaton on Saturday. Tipoff at Gregory Arena is set for 7:00 p.m. Click HERE for live coverage options.

NOTE: The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) has added a game between North Central and Elmhurst University on Tuesday, Mar. 2. The site of the game is still to be determined.

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