NAPERVILLE, Ill. – The Carroll University men's basketball team suffered its third straight loss at the hands of North Central College on Saturday night. The Pioneers fell 53-68. Aaron Wafford was the Pioneers' leading scorer, finishing with 13 points on 5-8 shooting and 3-3 from deep. Josh Hudgens and Paradisio Dante both finished with 10 points, five rebounds.
 
The Pioneers (6-17, 2-12 CCIW) were held to under 30 points in each half, despite starting the game shooting 45.8%. The Cardinals took advantage of the Pioneers' 17 turnovers and outscored Carroll 22-8 off of turnovers. Carroll's bench led by Dante scored 18 points over the Cardinal's 11. Carroll's defense was only able to generate four steals tonight, two of which came from Justin Steinike.
 
Tyler Miller started the game and knocked down a three-pointer as Carroll and North Central traded baskets over the first five minutes. Hudgens scored six straight for Carroll to give them a five-point lead, but the Cardinals responded with a 7-0 run of their own. The Pios kept it close, as Dante's layup in the paint put Carroll back out in front by one. North Central fought to re-take the lead and went into halftime up four points despite Carroll hitting 3-6 shots from deep.
 
Wafford scored on a three-point jumper on Carroll's second possession of the second half, but North Central ran up the score on an 8-0 run as Carroll went cold for over three minutes. A Wafford three cut the Cardinal lead to five, but North Central responded with a three of their own with just over 11 minutes left in the game. Carroll went down 11 points with 5:41 left on the clock and didn't score another field goal until Steinike hit a three with 1:28 remaining. It was too little too late, however, as North Central was already up 15 points.
 
Carroll has one more road game this season at Carthage on Wednesday night, Feb. 16.