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

Nov. 29, 2023 - Poise down the stretch brought the North Central College men's basketball team a victory in its College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) opener Wednesday. The Cardinals emerged from a slow start with a dominant mid-game stretch of play to defeat the Augustana College Vikings, 61-59, at Gregory Arena.

The Cardinals (2-4) faced a 20-11 deficit after the first 10 minutes as Augustana fashioned a 12-2 run which gave it a 22-11 lead with 9:56 to play in the first half. North Central got two free throws from Drew Gaston, a Brian Johnson three-pointer, and a layup from Gaston in a stretch of just more than a minute to shave the deficit to 22-18 with 7:42 still on the clock.

Ethan Helwig's three-pointer, following an offensive rebound by Johnson, made it a 24-22 count before Erikas Gurskas scored in the lane on a pass from Nick Smoldt to tie the score. Following a Viking turnover, Helwig fed Johnson for a three-pointer that gave North Central its first lead since the very early going.

Helwig closed the first-half scoring with three free throws to send the hosts into halftime with a 32-26 advantage. Gurskas' three-pointer to start the second half gave the Cardinals their largest lead of the night at 35-26.

Augustana (1-6) rallied to tie the score on two occasions before Matt Hawkins' layup nudged the Vikings in front, 54-53, with 4:20 left. Gurskas converted a layup off an alley-oop pass from Helwig with 3:12 to play which took the lead back for the hosts at 56-55. Helwig made four straight free throws to provide a 60-56 cushion in the final minute, but Tyler Knuth's three-pointer made it a 60-59 game with 27 seconds left.

Gurskas made one of two free throws with 21 seconds to play before the Cardinals defended two final Augustana shot attempts. Mike Hamilton's layup was rebounded by Ken Thomas and sent to the opposite end of the floor, but the Vikings recovered the ball and went to Knuth for a layup at the buzzer, but the shot glanced off the rim as time expired.

North Central owned a 39-29 rebounding advantage, turning 15 offensive boards into 18 second-chance points. Helwig led the way with 15 points and shared the team lead in rebounds (8) with Johnson, who also contributed four assists. Thomas finished with 14 points and seven boards while Gurskas, in his first collegiate start, finished with 12 points.

The Cardinals travel to face Wheaton College (1-5, 0-1 CCIW) Saturday. Tipoff at King Arena is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. Click HERE for the full 2023-2024 schedule and live coverage options.

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