Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

Jan. 8, 2025 - Connecting on a season-best 12 three-pointers, a 24-5 run to open the second half propelled the North Central College men's basketball team past Wheaton College 86-48 on Wednesday evening inside Gregory Arena. The 38-point margin of victory is the most in the series since 1967.

Sean Malloy's jumper kicked off the scoring before deep balls from Alejandro Diaz and Tyler Swierczek put the Cardinals on top, 8-0 early in the first half. A steal and fastbreak layup from Drew Gaston halted a Thunder run. James Bullock Jr. converted an old-fashioned three-point play as the hosts held a 15-10 advantage after 10 minutes of play. 

Back-to-back layups from Gaston extended the North Central lead to nine, 22-13. Both teams traded baskets as a three-pointer from Ethan Helwig gave the Cardinals a double-digit lead, 31-21. Helwig buried another shot from behind the arc as time expired to close out the first half, giving North Central a 36-27 lead.

The Cardinals took control of the game in the first six minutes of the second half, as a Swierczek three-pointer sparked a 24-5 run for North Central. The Cardinals sank six-of-eight threes over the six-minute stretch, led by Swierczek with 11 points to take a 60-32 advantage. 

Tyler DiSilvio found the basket on a layup, set up by Diaz before Bullock Jr. scored the game's next five points to increase the lead to 30, 70-40. Jaydon James, Justin Sveiteris and Tre Davis put together a 9-0 run to close out the contest as the Cardinal defense did not allow a Thunder point over the final four minutes of play. North Central improves to 10-4 on the season and 3-2 in College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin play with the 86-48 victory inside Gregory Arena.

Helwig led the Cardinals with 17 points, 12 of which came from behind the arc. Bullock Jr. scored a season-high 15 points, adding to his six rebounds. In total, 11 players scored for North Central who shot 47.5% from the field and 41.1% from three-point range. Kyle Neibch tallied 19 points for the Thunder.

North Central heads to Bloomington, Ill. on Saturday to take on the CCIW leaders, No. 7 Illinois Wesleyan University (12-2, 4-1 CCIW). Tipoff inside the Shirk Center is set for 4:15 p.m.

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