Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Feb. 20, 2024 - In a game comprised of two entirely different halves of play, the North Central College men's basketball team extended its season with a 58-54 victory over Carroll University Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament at Gregory Arena.
The victory is the third over the Pioneers this season for North Central (10-16), which got out of the gate slowly but found its footing down the stretch and led a closely-contested game for the final nine minutes.
Carroll (14-12) scored the first seven points of the evening before Sean Molloy opened the Cardinals' scoring with a floater in the free-throw lane. Ethan Helwig followed with five straight points to level the score at 7-7, and the hosts wound up putting together a 15-4 scoring run to take the lead at 15-11 following a layup by Terrance Moncrief and a jumper by Erikas Gurskas.
The Pioneers' Eckahelo Simpson made two free throws with 1.4 seconds left in the first period to send the teams into halftime tied, 21-21. Both teams struggled offensively in the opening 20 minutes as the Cardinals made 10 of 30 field-goal attempts (33.3 percent) and Carroll connected on 7 of 28 (25.0 percent).
Both squads also got untracked quickly as play resumed, each making 5 of their first 6 shots from the floor. Carroll took its largest lead at 40-36 on Tyler Miller's pullup three-pointer, though Helwig countered with a three-point play and Ken Thomas scored in the post to bring the Cardinals back in front, 41-40, with 11:35 on the clock.
The Pioneers' Kobe Simpson, who scored 18 of his game-high 22 points after halftime, connected from three-point range to give the visitors the lead at 43-41 with 11 minutes to play. Thomas scored in the lane to tie the score, then made two free throws before Kobe Simpson's three-point play gave Carroll what turned out to be its last lead at 46-45.
Gurskas hit a driving jumper to nudge the hosts back in front, 47-46, and after a Thomas free throw, connected from long range to put North Central ahead, 51-46, and prompt a Pioneer timeout with 6:44 left. Two free throws by Tyler Swierczek and a jump hook by Thomas gave the hosts their largest advantage at 55-48 before Kobe Simpson drove the lane for consecutive layups to closse the gap to 55-52 with 3:29 still to play.
Thomas sank a jump hook, which was answered by two free throws from Jacob Naber to leave the score at 57-54 in the Cardinals' favor with 1:19 left. Carroll had the ball with an opportunity to tie the score, but an errant pass was stolen by Molloy to put an end to the threat and seal the victory.
Helwig finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Cardinals, who shot 51.9 percent (14 of 27) from the floor after halftime. Thomas totaled 13 points and nine boards while Molloy scored 11 points.
North Central advances to Friday's semifinal round at No. 22-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University (18-7). Tipoff at the Shirk Center is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. Click HERE for the full 2023-2024 schedule and live coverage options.
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