Game Notes: (MBK) Carthage College @ North Central College (1/20/16)

Final Score
NCC 97, Carthage 68

Game Summary
The Cardinals (12-5, 5-1) started a little sluggish, getting blocked on their first two offensive possessions, but got the offense rolling, scoring 11 of the game's first 13 points. The Red Men (7-10, 1-5) didn't have an answer for the Cardinal attack that started inside before working its way outside. The Red Men struggled mightily on the offensive end as well, and the Cardinals took a 47-23 lead into the break. The Red Men scored the first four points in the second half and seemed poised for a takeover, but the Cardinals broke out again, getting a balanced attack despite physical defense by Carthage. Todd Raridon was able to bring in his end of bench guys with about six minutes left, and rode them to the end to pick up his 200th win at North Central.

Key Stats

• Carthage: 8-34 FG (23.5%) in 1st half. I think this stat says the most about the game. The Red Men couldn't get anything to go offensively, going just 3-14 beyond the arc, but that's also a 5-20 line from two point range. That's 25 percent, and won't win you many games. They finished at 37.9 percent for the game thanks to a hot second half, but by then the damage was done.
• Alex Sorenson (NCC): 12-14 FG (3-4 3PT); 27 pts, 13 reb (4 off), 2 ast, 3 blk. It's weird to me; it seemed like a quiet 27-13 line for Alex since the team performance was so dominating, but Alex was the key figure finally after two straight games with foul trouble. He was the dominant force inside and out, and his three point shot has grown on me after I've seen firsthand how lethal a weapon it is in his arsenal.
• Connor Raridon (NCC): 6-11 FG (0-3 3PT), 5-5 FT; 17 pts, 3 reb (2 off), 6 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk. Connor didn't have his best shooting night from outside, but he had a brilliant game inside. His post up game is an underrated part of his repertoire, as he took advantage of smaller guys by backing them down, and against a little more bulk was able to hit some turnaround jumpers. If Connor doesn't win CCIW Freshman of the Year I'm calling the cops.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• Augustana 77 (16-1, 5-1), @ Illinois Wesleyan 60 (9-8, 3-3)
• @ Elmhurst 91 (16-1, 6-0), North Park 88 (11-6, 3-3) (OT)
• @ Wheaton 87 (5-12, 1-5), Millikin 76 (6-11, 0-6)

Bosko Djurikovic Jacket Watch
I'm committing myself to this feature. Bosko Djurikovic fits the mold of basically every CCIW men's basketball coach: a super nice guy to be around, but get him on a basketball court and he becomes very passionate about what's going on.

Last night, his jacket was off by the 15:41 mark of the first half. I don't think it was in response to anything in particular, other than the Cardinals off to an 11-2 start. That record for the year could be broken, considering the founder of this section still has a trip to Merner on the docket...

Final Thoughts
I think the Cardinals have recovered from last week's debacle at Augustana, where those of us at Merner were just stunned to see the score early in that game. They didn't dwell on it though, and had a nice comeback win in overtime at Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday. Last night's game had all the making of "trap game" written all over it, but Todd Raridon had his troops prepared, and he is the second coach in NCC history with 200 wins, joining the legendary Bill Warden.

First place in the CCIW is there for the Cardinals' taking, as I finally get another Saturday doubleheader with Elmhurst College coming to town to close out the first half of CCIW play. Elmhurst has only a loss to that amazing Benedictine team that still hasn't lost a game, and otherwise has been fantastic, sitting at #2 in the country per D3hoops.com. It'll be a tough challenge ahead, but hopefully the Cardinals are ready for it.