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Bluejay Men Knock Off North Central in OT
Box Score
NAPERVILLE, Ill. - The Elmhurst College men's basketball team, ranked 22nd in the latest D3hoops.com poll, improved to 14-4 overall with a 78-72 overtime win at North Central College.
Elmhurst (4-3 CCIW) struggled with its shooting in the first half, hitting only 31.3 percent (10-of-32) of its shots, but the Bluejays took a 26-24 lead into the locker room at halftime thanks to a 23-12 rebound advantage.
The Bluejays built a 7-point second half advantage but were never able to pull away from the Cardinals. North Central (8-10, 2-5 CCIW) slowly chipped away at the lead and evened the score at 62-62 on a pair of Matt Rogers free throws with 47 seconds left.
Elmhurst reclaimed the lead 13 seconds later on a Brent Ruch (Farmer City/Blue Ridge) lay-up, but the Cardinals answered right back on a Mitch Rairdon jumper with 26 seconds left. Elmhurst had a chance to win in regulation but Matt Ryder's (Bettendorf, Iowa/Pleasant Valley) 3-pointer rimmed out and Dustin Bainter's (Macomb/H.S.) put-back attempt bounced out.
In overtime, the Bluejays grabbed a 69-66 lead on a Ryan Burks (Manito/Midwest Central) trey. The Cardinals' Reid Barringer evened the score at 71-all with 1:48 to play with a pro-range 3-pointer. Burks answered right back, splashing home a 3-pointer with 1:16 left.
After both teams missed shots, North Central cut the lead down to two points with 24 seconds left on a Barringer free throw. After Barringer missed his second attempt from the foul line, Elmhurst grabbed the board and sealed the win by hitting four free throws in the final 23 seconds.
Elmhurst shot 43.5 percent (27-of-62) from the floor and 38.5 percent (10-of-26) from beyond the arc. After struggling in the first half, Elmhurst shot 54.2 percent (13-of-24) in the second half and 66.7 percent (4-of-6) in overtime. The Bluejays were solid from the charity stripe, hitting 14-of-16 (87.5 percent) attempts.
North Central outshot the Bluejays by hitting 56.0 percent (28-of-50) of its shots from the field. The Cardinals hit 5-of-13 (38.5 percent) of its shots beyond the arc. North Central struggled from the foul line, converting only 11-of-19 attempts (57.9 percent).
Elmhurst dominated on the glass, outrebounding North Central 39-24, including a 20-9 edge on the offensive glass.
Burks led Elmhurst with 18 points, with 16 coming after halftime. Burks added eight rebounds in the win. Ryder added 14 points and hit four 3-pointers, all in the second half. Ruch and Bainter each scored 11 in the win. Ruch recorded a double-double by grabbing 11 rebounds. Jared Hintzsche (Hiawatha/Kirkland) came off the bench to score 10.
North Central was led by Chris Drennan's 19 points. Rogers scored 14 while Barringer added 12.
Elmhurst hosts Auugstana College on Saturday, February 2. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
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