Feb 21, 2015
In a game which featured both teams playing to extend their season, the North Central College men's basketball team celebrated Senior Night with a dramatic win Saturday evening at Gregory Arena, erasing a second-half deficit with a strong run of play and securing its place in the postseason with an 82-72 victory over North Park University.
With the win, the Cardinals (18-7, 8-6 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) clinched the No. 4 seed in next weekend's CCIW Tournament at Augustana College.and avenged a 92-68 loss at North Park on Jan. 24.
While North Central was led by senior forward Jack Burchett's 21 points and 14 rebounds, the home team's scoring effort was a balanced one, as Kevin Honn contributed 20 points (14 in the second half) and Brandon White and David Fuller both established new career highs with 11 points each.
The Vikings (15-10, 6-8 CCIW), who entered the game having won six of their previous seven contests, came out firing in the first half and took an 11-2 lead in the first five minutes. After turning the ball over five times during that span, North Central regrouped and narrowed the gap, trailing by just a single point at 24-23 following inside baskets by Honn and Joe Kennell.
North Park scored the next six points to stay in front and stayed ahead until less than a minute remained as Honn sank a jumper in the lane to tie the score at 34-34. The Vikings' Juwan Henry, however, scored just before the buzzer sounded to send the visitors into halftime with a 36-34 advantage. Henry, the CCIW's leading scorer, ripped the nets for 17 points on 8 of 13 shooting in the opening 20 minutes.
The visitors led by as many as eight points early in the second half as Henry continued to make life miserable for the Cardinals, scoring 13 points on 6 of 6 shooting in the first eight minutes of the period. North Central made what proved to be a pivotal switch in its defensive strategy, assigning defensive coverage of Henry to Fuller and later to White. Henry managed just four points the rest of the way and the Cardinals made their move for the lead.
With his team trailing, 56-50, Honn scored the game's next eight points, including two three-pointers in a 46-second span to put North Central in front, 58-56, and prompt a Viking timeout with 9:44 to play. A running jumper in the lane by Fuller and two free throws by White extended the lead, and after Henry sank a three-pointer to leave the score at 67-64, the Cardinals got two jumpers from White and a pair of free throws by Burchett to take a 73-64 lead and take control for good.
Burchett's breakaway dunk with just under a minute left pushed North Central's lead to its largest at 78-65, and the Cardinals closed out the win to advance to the CCIW Tournament for the fourth time in five seasons.
North Central shot 56.3 percent (27 of 48) from the floor and outrebounded the Vikings, 23-9, in the second half. Jayme Moten knocked down two three-pointers to push his school-record total this season to 74 and handed out a team-high three assists, while Charles Rosenberg blocked four shots.
Henry finished with 34 points on 15 of 22 shooting from the floor and was the only North Park player to score in double figures.
The Cardinals will play No. 1 seed Augustana on Friday at the Carver Center, with tipoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. More information can be found on the CCIW's tournament webpage at cciw.org.