Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Director of Athletics Communication, 630-637-5324
Story written by Alex Mielcarz, Athletics Communication Graduate Assistant, ajmielcarz@noctrl.edu
DUBUQUE, Iowa (Dec. 29, 2025) – After leading for most of the contest, the North Central men's basketball team was unable to hold off a late Lake Forest College charge as the Cardinals fell 92-87 in their opening game of the Loras College Holiday Classic in Dubuque, Iowa, on Monday afternoon.
In the 101st meeting between the two programs (their first since 2015), it was Lake Forest (5-5) that broke out to an early 21-11 lead thanks to tough finishes from Cristian Rodriguez and Marko Visnejevac, but the Cardinals answered with a 17-2 run during which North Central shot 7 of 11 from the field, giving it a 28-21 lead. Freshman Seth Cheney scored six points during the run while Tyler DiSilvio and Ethan Marlowe added four points each.
Cheney would finish with nine points, three rebounds and one assist, while DiSilvio scored four off the bench in 10 minutes of play. Marlowe was the second-leading scorer for the Cardinals, as he finished with 14 points while shooting 5 of 10 from the field. He led the team in rebounds with eight, six of which were offensive.
With six minutes to play in the first half, the Foresters chiseled it down to a one-point deficit, but a 3-pointer from Alejandro Diaz and five points from Marlowe helped build a 50-40 lead at the halftime break.
It was one of the Cardinals' best halves of the season, scoring 50 points on 17 of 32 shooting (53%) while knocking down five 3-pointers (35.7%).
North Central (4-7) expanded its lead to 18 with a 10-2 run in the first 3:18 of the second half, starting the period with four makes on six tries, including two 3-pointers (one from Diaz and one from Tyler Swierczek).
The Cardinals kept their distance from the Foresters for the majority of the half, with a Cheney 3-pointer off a feed from Tre Davis giving the Cardinals a 79-61 lead with 7:07 to play in the contest.
Lake Forest's offense caught fire, scoring nine of the next 15 points in the game to make it an 80-70 contest with 4:35 left. The Foresters didn't stop there, as they proceeded to make five of their next seven shots over the subsequent three minutes, tying the game at 82 with 1:17 to play in regulation thanks to a 14-2 run during which Lake Forest grabbed three steals.
A Coltrane Marchand free throw gave the Foresters the lead for good, as they would outscore the Cardinals 31-11 over the final 7:36 of play to win 92-87.
Late physical finishes at the rim from Molloy in the final minute weren't enough to overcome the first deficit the Cardinals had faced since the game was 21-20 in favor of the Foresters halfway through the first half.
North Central led the contest for more than 30 minutes and narrowly out-rebounded the Foresters 31-30. The Cardinal bigs, led by Marlowe, grabbed 10 offensive rebounds and turned them into 10 second-chance points.
The Cardinal offense was led in scoring by Molloy's 18 points on 5 of 11 shooting and a near-perfect 7-8 night at the charity stripe. Diaz added another 12 points on 3 of 12 shooting while nabbing four boards and dishing six assists (tying a season high). The offense finished the night 29 of 62 (46.8%) from the field, and 37% (10 of 27) from beyond the arc.
Lake Forest's Alex Forowycz (22 points) and Rodriguez (20 points,11 rebounds) spearheaded a Forester offense that shot 55.6% from the floor and 39% from three, while knocking down 23 of 25 free throw chances.
North Central has a quick turnaround, as it takes on Bethany Lutheran College tomorrow at 2 p.m. to finish off the Loras Holiday Classic.
