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

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (Jan. 11, 2025) - Shaking off a slow start to force one of the nation's top-ranked team to its very limit, the North Central College men's basketball team was turned away Saturday in an intense triple-overtime battle by No. 7-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University, 99-91, at the Shirk Center.

The Cardinals (10-5, 3-3 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) found themselves in a 13-0 hole after the first seven minutes of play, missing their first nine shots from the floor. Tyler DiSilvio made two three-pointers to get North Central on the board, and Tre Davis and Tyler Swierczek followed with threes on consecutive possessions to narrow the gap to 21-12 with 9:50 on the first-half clock.

The visitors cut their deficit to 29-25 following two free throws from Davis, but the Titans (13-2, 5-1 CCIW) pulled ahead by as many as 12 before heading into halftime in front, 39-31. DiSilvio led all scorers at the break with 12 points.

After getting into foul trouble early and missing most of the first half, Sean Molloy scored on a layup and a three-pointer early in the second period to tie the score for the first time at 43-43. IWU pulled back in front until Drew Gaston's three tied the score at 51-51 with 11:20 remaining. Gaston's driving layup gave the Cardinals their first lead at 53-51 with 9:48 to play before the Titans' Nathan Boldt responded with a triple just 16 seconds later.

The hosts owned a 66-58 edge with five minutes to go in regulation play, but North Central closed with a 10-2 run to force overtime. James Bullock opened the rally with two free throws, and Terrance Moncrief scored inside before coming up with a steal that led to Bullock's three-pointer that closed the gap to 66-65 with 3:31 left. The Titans' Hakim Williams sank two charity shots with 3:08 on the clock, which were IWU's final points of the period. 

With 1:20 to go, Bullock drove the lane and absorbed contact to convert a three-point play and tie the score, 68-68. The lead changed hands seven times in the first extra period, which ended tied at 79-79 after the Titans' Marko Anderson scored with 12 seconds left and North Central was unable to put up a final shot attempt. 

Williams' layup gave the Titans an 86-84 lead with under a minute to play, but a pullup jumper by Ethan Helwig forced an 86-86 stalemate at the close of the second overtime. The hosts pulled ahead in the third additional frame as the Cardinals were held without a field goal until just 10 seconds remained.

The Titans' Nick Roper led all scorers with 29 points, while Williams finished with 20. North Central had six double-figure scorers, led by Helwig, Swierczek and Bullock with 14 points each while Molloy and DiSilvio put up 13 and Terrance Moncrief totaled 11. Helwig also finished with seven rebounds and four steals and Davis contributed a team-best five assists.

North Central travels to face Carthage College (10-4, 4-1) Wednesday. Tipoff at Tarble Arena is set for 7:00 p.m.Click HERE for the full 2024-2025 schedule and live coverage options.

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