Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
ELMHURST, Ill. (Dec. 17, 2022) - Its transition game leading to a wealth of high-percentage scoring opportunities, the North Central College men's basketball team improved to 2-2 in College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) play Saturday with a 78-71 victory at Elmhurst University.
The victory is the Cardinals' first at R.A. Faganel Hall since a 76-74 win Dec. 14, 2019 and snaps a three-game North Central losing streak. The Cardinals (5-5 overall) scored 22 points off 18 Elmhurst turnovers, including 15 on the fast break.
An early steal by Brian Johnson led to a layup by John Blumeyer, who then came up with a steal of his own leading to a jumper by Shea Cupples. Mitch Lewis grabbed a defensive rebound and went the length of the floor for a layup with 14:23 on the clock, giving the visitors an early 12-5 lead.
The Bluejays (7-3, 1-3 CCIW) closed the gap to 16-13, though Lewis followed with two more inside buckets to keep North Central in front. A layup by Matt Helwig preceded another inside score by Lewis before a steal and score by Helwig with 6:26 to play gave the Cardinals their first double-digit advantage at 30-19.
A three-point play by Lewis with 22 seconds left in the half capped a first period which saw North Central connect on 18 of 26 field-goal attempts (69.6 percent). Lewis led the way with 16 points on 7 of 8 shooting.
The Cardinals pushed their lead to its largest a 56-35 on Nick Smoldt's layup with 16:05 to play, and the guests led by double figures until 2:55 to play. Elmhurst narrowed the gap to 75-71 with just 12 seconds left, but John Blumeyer sank 3 of 4 free throws to seal the win.
Lewis finished with 19 points on 8 of 10 shooting while also grabbing six rebounds. Blumeyer scored 15 while Cupples scored 14 with three assists and Helwig totaled 12 points and a team-best eight boards.
Elmhurst's Tagen Parsons led all scorers with 21 points off the bench.
The Cardinals are idle until Wednesday when they travel to DeVos Fieldhouse in Holland, Michigan for a showdown with the Hope College Flying Dutchmen (6-3). Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. Eastern time.
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