North Central Men Cap Regular Season with OT Win at IWU

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Faced with a third overtime contest in the past four games, the North Central College men's basketball team stepped up in a pressure situation and closed the regular season Saturday with an 82-80 victory over Illinois Wesleyan University at the Shirk Center.

The Cardinals (15-10, 9-7 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) were led once again by the exploits of Alex Sorenson, who delivered 27 points and 11 rebounds, and remain in contention for a spot in the upcoming CCIW Tournament.

A slow start put North Central in a 12-5 hole to open the contest, but a four-point play by Erwin Henry, three-pointers by Sorenson and Jagger Anderson and two straight buckets by Tommy Koth put the Cardinals in front, 19-16, with 9:35 left in the first half. With the score tied, 28-28, Nick Chambers knocked down a three-pointer to spark an 11-0 run, capped off by Matt Cappelletti's jumper with just under a minute before halftime. The Titans (16-8, 8-7 CCIW), however, scored twice in the final 37 seconds to narrow the gap to 39-32 at the break.

Sorenson proved to have the answer to nearly every IWU challenge in the second half. After the hosts cut the deficit to 47-45 early in the period, Sorenson sank a three-pointer to keep the Cardinals a step ahead. The Titans closed the gap to 54-51 with 10:01 on the clock before Sorenson delivered a three-point play and a three-point shot to boost the lead to 60-51, and after IWU's Alec Bausch came up with a steal and layup to tie the game at 66-66, Sorenson drilled another three on the next trip down the court to put he Cardinals in front once again.

The Titans' Colin Bonnett, however, converted a three-point play with 7.3 seconds left in regulation, and after two timeouts, North Central was unable to come up with the game-winning basket, necessitating an overtime session.

Henry and Cappelletti were both fouled rebounding the ball early in the extra session, and both went 2 for 2 at the free-throw line to give the Cardinals a 75-71 lead. A jumper by Andy Stempel and a three-pointer from Bonnett gave IWU what turned out to be its last lead at 76-75 before Sorenson netted yet another three-pointer on the ensuing possession. Henry and Aiden Chang each sank a pair of free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.

Sorenson finished the contest 10 of 19 from the floor, making a career-high six three-pointers on 10 attempts. Henry finished with 14 points, Chang scored 10 and Jagger Anderson handed out seven assists. 

Stempel scored 23 points and Bonnett totaled 22 to pace the Titans. 

Pairings for the CCIW Tournament will be announced following Tuesday evening's round of games. The tournament will be held Feb. 24-25 at the site of the regular-season champion.