Game Notes: (MBK) Elmhurst College @ North Central College

Final Score
Elmhurst 66, NCC 57

Game Summary
It was another Heat Check game early for the Cardinals (13-3, 3-2) who jumped out to an early 12-5 lead. The Blue Jays (13-3, 3-2) battled back quickly to tie, and took command with free throws, carrying a 36-32 lead into the break. The Cardinals came back in the second to tie the game at 48 and took a couple one point leads, but the Blue Jays stayed with it. The closest the Cardinals would get was 60-57 late, but free throws sealed the deal for Elmhurst.

Key Stats

• North Central: Committed 28 fouls to Elmhurst's 16. Normally, issues with officiating get put in the final thoughts section. Last night... wasn't great. By and large, I can't dispute the Cardinals getting called for 28 fouls. Elmhurst only getting called for 16... something doesn't seem quite right. It was a fairly physical game, so there shouldn't be this kind of foul disparity, especially when it results in Elmhurst shooting 36 free throws to 18 for North Central. This wasn't the main reason for the loss, but it didn't help.
• Elmhurst: Out-rebounded NCC 48-33. This disparity was much worse at halftime; the Blue Jays had more offensive rebounds (12) than NCC had total rebounds (11), with Elmhurst totally 29 at the break. NCC out-rebounded them in the second half, but nowhere near enough to stem the tide.
• Jayme Moten (NCC): 8-15 FG (8-14 3PT), 1-2 FT; 25 pts, 4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl. Jayme had another monster game from outside, scoring the Cardinals' first 12 points on threes before cooling off as the game went on. In a game where the inside presence wasn't there again (Jack Burchett and Charles Rosenberg combined for 13 points), he needed to step up.

Around the CCIW

• @Illinois Wesleyan 76 (12-4, 4-1), North Park 66 (6-10, 1-4)
• @Carthage 80 (7-8, 3-2), Millikin 76 (6-10, 1-4)
• @Augustana 78 (15-1, 5-0), Wheaton 74 (8-8, 1-4)

Final Thoughts
The officiating was bad for the second straight game, but I can't fully blame the loss on them. The Cardinals couldn't get anything going inside, got out-rebounded, and that probably to some degree explains the 2-1 free throw disparity. This loss probably puts the Cardinals in a very bad position regarding the Top 25, considering it's their second straight loss. This creates a bit of a log jam for the final two spots in the conference tournament, but there's a lot of time left before that happens.

The Cardinals hit the road for two straight to close out the first run through the Gauntlet, and they need a win against Carthage next week.