Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Box Score
Feb. 7, 2022 - Fighting off a rash of early ballhandling miscues as well as the physical defensive play of its opponent, the North Central College men's basketball team came from behind to claim a hard-fought victory over Millikin University Monday, 61-55, at Gregory Arena.
The victory clinches a spot in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament for the Cardinals (14-7, 9-4 CCIW), who trailed for nearly the entire game before outscoring Millikin, 17-5, over the final 8:23 and holding the Big Blue without a field goal for the final seven minutes.
Committing five turnovers in the first nine minutes of the game, the Cardinals fell behind early as Millikin's Calvin Fisher scored 12 early points. North Central faced its largest deficit at 20-6 with 10:41 on the clock in the first period. The Cardinals held Millikin without a field goal for the final 5:47 of the half and got a pair of buckets from Terrance Moncrief before closing the gap to 32-25 by the break.
Ethan Helwig sank a three-pointer on the fast break with 7:29 to play, cutting Millikin's lead to 50-49 and prompting a Big Blue timeout. Following the break, Fisher scored inside, but Helwig fed Brian Johnson for a layup on the other end. Helwig later made a free throw to tie the score at 52-52, and Shea Cupples gave the hosts their first lead of the night by making two charity shots with 5:06 to play.
Fisher connected on one of two free throws to leave the score at 54-53 and blocked a Cupples layup on the defensive end, but John Blumeyer was able to grab the offensive rebound and the Cardinals got the ball to Matthew Helwig for a pullup jumper and a 56-53 advantage with three minutes to go. Blumeyer drew a charge on Millikin's Drake Stevenson on the next possession, setting the stage for the Cardinals to close out the win with five free throws in the final 1:16.
Matthew Helwig led all scorers with 25 points on 9 of 13 shooting and grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. Ethan Helwig scored all 14 of his points in the second half and also grabbed seven rebounds while Johnson and Moncrief each totaled eight points.
Fisher totaled 22 points for the Big Blue while Bond finished with 12. The Cardinals limited Millikin to 8 of 28 shooting (28.6 percent) from the field in the second half.
The Cardinals travel to face North Park University (8-12, 3-9). Tipoff at the North Park Gymnasium is set for 7:00 p.m. Click HERE for live coverage options.
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