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

Nov. 30, 2022 - Treating the Gregory Arena faithful to a sterling effort from the very beginning, the North Central College men's basketball team began College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) play Wednesday with a 73-50 victory over Carroll University.

The Cardinals, who improved to 4-2 this season, scored the first eight points of the game and held a 17-5 advantage with 11:30 remaining in the first half. Carroll (2-6) missed 13 of its first 15 shots from the floor.

After taking a 33-22 advantage into halftime, North Central owned a 39-27 advantage early in the second half when Terrance Moncrief ended the competitive portion of the program. For a stretch of just more than two minutes, Moncrief was the game's sole scorer, putting up 10 points on 4 of 4 shooting.

Moncrief's self-financed surge staked the Cardinals to a 49-27 lead with 12:35 to play, and they led by at least 16 from then on. Making 7 of 8 field-goal attempts, Moncrief led all scorers with 17 points in just 15 minutes.

Ethan Helwig totaled 15 points for North Central while Matt Helwig and Brian Johnson each scored 10. Matt Helwig added a team-high four assists and shared the team lead in rebounds (6) with Shea Cupples and Nick Smoldt. James Ruzicka recorded four of the Cardinals' nine steals. 

North Central hosts North Park University (5-1, 1-0 CCIW) Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.

Download the free North Central Cardinals app, available for iOS and Android devices, to receive up-to-the-minute news, scores and updates on your favorite North Central teams. Click HERE for more information.