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

DECATUR, Ill. (Jan. 29, 2025) - Taking control early and leading nearly from wire to wire, the North Central College men's basketball team secured a key College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) victory Wednesday with a 65-56 victory over Millikin University at the Griswold Center.

With six games left in the regular season, the victory puts the Cardinals (11-8, 4-6 CCIW) in a three-way tie for fifth in the conference standings with Millikin and Augustana College. North Central travels to face the Vikings Saturday.

With the score tied at 5-5 after six minutes of play, the Cardinals got a run of eight straight points from Tyler Swierczek in less than two minutes that wound up giving the visitors the lead for good. Swierczek pulled up for a three-pointer from the top of the key to give North Central a brief 9-6 edge before Millikin's Noah Livingston responded with a triple of his own.

Swierczek's next three-pointer was off the mark, but Sean Molloy grabbed the rebound and fed Swierczek for a layup. On the next trip down the floor, Justin Sveiteris passed the ball out of the low post to Swierczek for another three-pointer from the right win, giving the Cardinals a 14-9 edge and prompting a Millikin timeout.

Owning a 26-18 advantage late in the first half, North Central extended its lead to double digits as Terrance Moncrief made two three-pointers and a pair of free throws in one minute, 14 seconds to leave the score at 34-21 in the guests' favor. The Cardinals headed into halftime with a 36-24 lead as Swierczek totaled 16 points and Moncrief put up 12.

North Central's shooting was cold to start the second half, as its first six shots of the period were off the mark. Swierczek's layup with 15:46 to play ignited the offense once again, and three-pointers by Molloy and Ethan Helwig bumped the back up to 44-34 with 12:33 left. A three by Helwig and a layup by Moncrief on consecutive possessions provided the Cardinals a 60-47 cushion with 2:59 on the clock.

The Big Blue's Lane Thomann made a bid to bring Millikin (10-9, 4-6) all the way back, scoring the game's next nine points to close the gap to 60-56 with 28 seconds to play. Thomann lined up for a three-pointer but the shot was off the mark, as James Bullock Jr. grabbed the rebound, drew a foul, and made both free throws with 16.1 seconds left. Drew Gaston stole the inbounding pass and quickly pitched the ball to Bullock, whose layup made it a 64-56 game with 11.9 seconds on the clock.

Swierczek led the Cardinals with 20 points on 7 of 13 shooting, while Moncrief shot 7 for 10 and totaled 18 points and four assists. Tyler DiSilvio grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Thomann led all scorers with 21 points for the Big Blue.

The Cardinals take on Augustana (11-8, 4-6) at 4:15 p.m. Saturday at the Carver Center in Rock Island. Click HERE for the full 2024-2025 schedule and live coverage options.

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