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

Feb. 3, 2024 - Facing a prolific three-point shooting attack which kept it playing catch-up throughout the afternoon, the North Central College men's basketball team absorbed an 84-66 setback against Elmhurst University Saturday at Gregory Arena. 

The Cardinals (7-14, 5-7 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) fell behind early as Elmhurst's John Ittounas, the CCIW's leading scorer this season, connected on four straight three-point attempts in the first seven minutes to put the Bluejays in front, 14-6. North Central bounced back to score eight of the game's next 10 points as Drew Gaston's baseline drive and layup closed the gap to 16-14 with 10:55 on the first-half clock.

Elmhurst responded with a 10-2 surge which was snapped by a spinning layup by Ken Thomas and a floater in the lane by Terrance Moncrief to leave the score at 26-22 with 6:22 to play in the half. The Bluejays strung together 13 consecutive points, over the next four minutes, making 5 of 6 shots from the floor, to take their largest lead of the half at 39-22.

Sean Molloy sparked a 10-2 scoring run to close the period for the Cardinals, converting a three-point play, finding Erikas Gurskas on the left baseline for a three-pointer, and coming up with a steal and throwing ahead to Gaston for a layup. Gaston closed the half with a pullup jumper, cutting the Elmhurst lead to 41-32 at the break.

A turnaround jumper by Molloy and a steal and three-pointer by Ethan Helwig enabled the Cardinals to cut their deficit to 44-37 soon after play resumed, though Elmhurst (18-4, 10-3 CCIW) countered with a 10-0 scoring run to pull in front, 54-37. The Bluejays stayed in front by at least 10 points the rest of the way, stunting the hosts' second-half comeback efforts by limiting North Central to 34.4 percent shooting (11 of 32) from the floor after halftime.

In the starting lineup for the first time since Dec. 2, Molloy led the Cardinals in scoring with a career-high 18 points and handed out three assists. Helwig, Gaston and Tyler Swierczek scored eight points each for North Central while Helwig also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. With two three-pointers in the game, Helwig now has 151 triples as a Cardinal, tied for 10th-most in the program's history.

Ittounas paced the Bluejays with 22 points, 17 of which came in the first half, while Tagen Pearson scored 15, Ocean Johnson 12 and Johnathan Zapinski 11.

The Cardinals travel to face Augustana College Wednesday. Tipoff at the Carver Center is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Click HERE for the full 2023-2024 schedule and live coverage options.

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