Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Dec. 4, 2024 - Forced to play from behind for most of the evening as it struggled to find its offensive rhythm, the North Central College men's basketball team ended Wednesday night on the short end of a 73-67 decision against Millikin University at Gregory Arena.
The Cardinals (5-2, 0-1 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) fell behind soon after tipoff but rallied to tie the score at 20-20 when
Ethan Helwig rattled home a three-pointer from the right wing.
Sean Molloy scored a second-chance basket with 5:47 to go in the first half, giving the hosts their first lead of the game at 22-20.
Millikin (4-3, 1-0 CCIW) scored six of the next eight points before Molloy knocked down a three to give the Cardinals what would be their last lead of the night at 27-26. The Big Blue closed the first half with three straight three-pointers, including two in the final 43 seconds from Drake Stevenson, to head into the break with a 35-27 edge.
Helwig pulled up for three on North Central's first two second-half possessions, igniting a surge that saw the gap narrowed to 39-37 on
Terrance Moncrief's layup with 15:36 to play. The Big Blue then embarked on the run that would secure its victory, outscoring the Cardinals, 20-6, over a nine-minute span to pull ahead, 59-43, with 5:35 remaining. Millikin made 8 of 12 shots during that time while the hosts were 2 for 11.
Molloy scored eight points in a 10-0 run to whittle the deficit down to 59-53 with 3:39 still to go, but the visitors made 12 of 16 free throws in the final 2:20 to stay a step ahead.
Molloy led all scorers with 17 points, while Moncrief finished with 16 and a game-high four steals. Helwig totaled 14 points and led the Cardinals in rebounds (9) and assists (4), moving into 28th place in the program's history in career scoring (1,060). Click
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