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Bluejay Men Fall to North Central 62-59
Boxscore
ELMHURST, Ill. - Chris Martin (Eureka-H.S.) scored a game-high 23 points, but it wasn't enough as the Elmhurst College men's basketball team dropped a 62-59 contest to North Central College.
North Central jumped out to an early lead but was never able to pull away. The Cardinals built an eight-point first-half advantage with under five minutes to play, but the Bluejays whittled the lead down to just two at 29-27 at halftime.
North Central built its lead up to nine points in the opening minutes of the second half while Elmhurst struggled. The Bluejays scored just seven points in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Trailing by eight, Elmhurst came to life as Martin canned a 3-pointer and Brian Lee (Orland Park-Sandburg) converted a lay-up. After a technical foul on North Central Head Coach Todd Raridon, Chris Ihlenfeldt (Gurnee-Warren) sank a pair of free throws to cut the lead to just one. After a North Central miss, Ihlenfeldt gave Elmhurst its first lead of the game since the opening minute by connecting on a 3-pointer.
The Cardinals quickly tied the score and built a four-point advantage with 6:11 remaining. Elmhurst chipped the lead dow n to just one and Martin hit a lay-up and a free throw to put the Bluejays up by two with 3:30 to play.
North Central's Chris Drennan tied the score and North Central took the lead on an Adam Teising lay-up. Dan Walton added two free throws with under two minutes to give North Central a four-point edge.
Ihlenfeldt made it a one-point game by canning a trey from the top of the key with 1:38 to play. After each team came up empty, Ray Vicario missed a 3-pointer with Elmhurst grabbing the rebound with 40 seconds to play. The Bluejays worked the clock down to 12 seconds and Robert Strzemp's (Oak Park/Oak Park-River Forest) free throw line jumper rimmed off with the Cardinals grabbing the rebound. Vicario sank a pair of free throws with five seconds to play to give North Central the 62-59 win.
Elmhurst shot 41.3 percent from the floor (19-of-46) and 45.0 percent from downtown (9-of-20). M/p>
North Central hit 20-of-44 attempts (45.5 percent) from the floor and 5-of-13 (38.5 percent) from beyond the arc.
Both teams struggled with ball control as Elmhurst committed 17 turnovers while North Central finished with 16.
The Bluejays struggled inside, scoring only 14 points in the paint despite North Central's big men being in foul trouble for most of the second half.
Martin led all scorers with 23 points on 7-of-16 shooting, including 5-of-10 from downtown. Ihlenfeldt added 11 points while Brent Ruch (Farmer City-Blue Ridge) finished with nine points.
Drennan came off the bench to scored 17 points and grab eight rebounds for the Cardinals. Vicario finished with 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting (4-of-8 from downtown). Walton added 10 points and nine rebounds in the win. The Cardinals’ leading scorer Anthony Simmons was shut out and played in just 19 minutes before fouling out.
The loss dropped Elmhurst to 16-8 overall and 8-5 in CCIW play. North Central moved to 19-5 and pulled even with the Bluejays at 8-5 in the league standings. With Illinois Wesleyan losing to Augustana, there is now a three-way tie for second-place in the CCIW standings. Illinois Wesleyan, Elmhurst and North Central all have identical 8-5 records.
Elmhurst controls its own fate heading into its final game of the season on Saturday. A win over Wheaton College would secure the Bluejays a spot in the CCIW Tournament.
The Bluejays would also earn a CCIW tournament bid based on tie breakers if Elmhurst, North Central and Wheaton all tied at 8-6. The Bluejays would also get in to the tournament field if Illinois Wesleyan, North Central, Wheaton and Elmhurst all finished at 8-6.
A three-way tie with Wheaton, Elmhurst and Illinois Wesleyan would have the Bluejays coming up short in tiebreaking formulas. Also, in event that Elmhurst and Wheaton are the only teams tied for the final spot at 8-6, Wheaton would have the tiebreaking edge over the Bluejays.
In order to secure a spot in the league tournament, Elmhurst must defeat Wheaton on Saturday or the Thunder must lose to Carthage next Wednesday (February 15). The Bluejays would also clinch a spot with an Augustana victory over North Central on Saturday.
Elmhurst takes on the Thunder on Saturday, February 18, at 7:30 p.m.
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