Game Notes: (MBK) North Park University @ North Central College (1/2/16)

Final Score
NCC 76, NPU 64

Game Summary
In a thrilling rematch of last year's CCIW Tournament Play In Game to end last season, the Cardinals (8-4, 1-0) opened the game going inside before working their way out, getting out to a 13-6 lead. The Vikings (8-4, 0-1) hung tough however, hitting some threes and getting some offense from their playmakers, but couldn't close the gap. A tip at the buzzer got them within six at 36-30 to end the first half. North Park got a three to start the second half, but the Cardinals answered with nine of the next 13 points to extend the lead back to eight. North Park wouldn't go away, pulling back within one at 47-46, but the Cardinals broke out on a 12-2 run over the next three minutes to go up by 11. North Park got no closer than eight over the next few minutes, and the Cardinals were able to pull away for the victory.

Key Stats

• Alex Sorenson (NCC): 9-10 FG (4-5 3PT), 2-4 FT; 24 pts, 14 reb (4 off), 1 ast, 1 stl, 6 blk. It's way too early to crown an "Alex Sorenson Game", but this is going to be one of the leading candidates. He was a monster early, scoring the opening basket on a pick and roll to the hoop, then started spotting up from outside, hitting his first two triples in the opening minutes to give the Cardinals the early advantage. There was a stretch where he was contained after that, especially early in the second half, but he started to get to the basket again as the game went on, and then I think it was during that 12-2 run he hit a couple threes and was pumped after hitting both. He then put the cherry on top with a thunderous dunk with about a minute to go.
• Kevin Honn (NCC): 7-13 FG (0-1 3PT), 2-3 FT; 16 pts, 9 reb (2 off), 6 ast, 1 stl. I told our official scorer right before the game was about to start that we had one big advantage in this game: size. Across all five positions, the Cardinals were taller, and this is factoring in that Honn came off the bench and put up these numbers. Honn was able to consistently get to the basket, and more than once was in perfect position off a beautiful feed for an easy bucket. The role players need to step up on good teams, and Honn did so last night.
• Jordan Robinson (NPU): 9-15 FG (4-5 3PT), 4-5 FT; 26 pts, 9 reb (2 off), 1 ast, 1 blk. Robinson led all scorers, and he plays like a bigger version of Juwan Henry. One of his threes early in the game was a nice stepback triple that I couldn't tell from my vantage point if he was behind the arc or not (he was). He clearly showed up, as he led his team in rebounding as well, but his effort just wasn't quite enough to get the Vikings a road win.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• @ Carthage 74 (7-5, 1-0), Millikin 71 (6-6, 0-1)
• @ Elmhurst 78 (11-1, 1-0), Illinois Wesleyan 64 (6-6, 0-1)
• @ Augustana 72 (12-0, 1-0), Wheaton 68 (4-8, 0-1)

Tom Slyder Jacket Watch

This is normally a section I'd reserve for Grey Giovanine of Augustana, but at the suggestion of my good friend Geoffrey Clark, we're doing it conference wide because, as he put it, "You need to be a special breed of crazy to be a college coach, so I think it's warranted."

North Park coach Tom Slyder's jacket came off at around the 7:00 mark in the first half. I missed when exactly it happened, but it was around then following a few supposed "missed calls" in a row. I didn't catch him dropping any F-bombs on the officials last night though, unlike last year.

Final Thoughts

I do want to start off with my views on North Park's team. They're clearly very talented and on the rise, and a team I wouldn't be surprised to see playing the CCIW Tournament this year. But in reviewing my thoughts from when we played these guys last year, not much has changed in that I don't respect this team a ton. Juwan Henry scored 18 points last night, but needed 22 shots to do it, so you could say he struggled. With regards to last year's post though, he didn't flop from what I saw last night, but he did seem to complain a lot. Most notably, he swore at a ref mid-play (as in, an F-bomb) complaining about a missed foul. He should have been T'd up there, but wasn't. Talented ball player to be sure, but he can be easy to frustrate and when he gets frustrated, he becomes a player that's hard to like.

That frustration extended to postgame, though it may have been instigated on North Central's end. Someone said something to North Park's Jordan Robinson in the handshake line, and I'm not sure exactly what it was, though it may have been directed at his play overall (which is weird; dude had a good game). He turned and seemed to want to go after whoever said it, but he was turned back towards the rest of his team, with Coach Slyder telling him to shut his mouth. I have to give Slyder a ton of credit there for making sure he defused the situation.

All in all, this was a fantastic win for the Cardinals. This was fairly similar to the win last year, except we led most of the way, but there were well timed threes to gain control of the game, and that Sorenson dunk served as the exclamation point.

The Cardinals are back home on Wednesday, where they take on ACS alum Matt Nadelhoffer's Millikin Big Blue at Merner, and I get to see my old mentor Dod Davidson again. It will probably be a tough matchup, as the Big Blue won here last year. They need this win though, with a tough road trip upcoming.