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

Box Score

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (Feb. 26 2022) - An opportunity to play spoiler for a second straight night did not come to pass for the North Central College men's basketball team Saturday, as the Cardinals were beaten, 82-65, by Elmhurst University in the championship game of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament at the Shirk Center.

The Cardinals were outrebounded, 47-24, and Elmhurst was able to turn 18 offensive boards into 23 points. The Bluejays created some space with a 9-2 scoring run midway through the first half and led by double digits throughout the second period.

Despite missing eight of its first 10 shots from the floor, North Central (17-10) remained in contention, facing a 13-9 deficit with 12:37 left in the half. Within four minutes, the Bluejays had increased the lead to 22-11. Two straight three-pointers by Ethan Helwig helped blunt Elmhurst's progress, but the Cardinals went scoreless for the final 3:43 of the half. The Bluejays scored the final nine points of the period and took a 38-20 advantage into halftime. The Cardinals outscored Elmhurst, 45-44, in the second half but an opportunity to cut into the Bluejays' lead never materialized.

Matthew Helwig led the Cardinals in scoring for the 22nd time this season with 20 points, giving him 661 for the season which ranks second in North Central history behind the 689 points scored by Bill Warden in the 1953-54 campaign. Helwig went 7 for 7 at the free-throw line to boost his season free-throw percentage to 90.8, putting him in position to set a new North Central record, and he became the program's 30th 1,000-point scorer on a free throw with 7:56 to play. He now has 1,008 career points.

Jake Rhode led all scorers with 23 points for Elmhurst while Wesley Hooker finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Selections and first-round pairings for the 2022 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship will be announced Monday at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time on ncaa.com.

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