Game Notes: (MBK) Benedictine University @ North Central College (11/26/24)

Final Score
NCC 86, Benedictine 78 (OT)

Game Summary
In another tight contest that the annual Battle for Chicago-Maple Avenue continues to provide, the Cardinals (4-1) jumped out to the early lead. While the Eagles (1-5) were able to keep it close for a while, they couldn't get over the hump, partially thanks to a technical foul, but managed to stay within four at 40-36 going into halftime. The Eagles scored the first four points of the second half to tie the game, but a 10-0 Cardinal run sparked the home crowd. North Central would push the lead as high as 15 with about 13 minutes to play, but the Eagles slowly chipped away, and eventually took their first lead of the game at 71-69 with just over a minute to go. But a Terrance Moncrief layup tied it at 71 with 49 seconds to go. Benedictine missed a go-ahead three, and with a chance to win, NCC briefly coughed up the ball before heaving an ill-advised prayer to result in an extra session. The Cardinals proceeded to score 10 of the first 11 in the extra session and iced the game at the line to bring the Bill Warden-Tony La Scala Trophy home.

Key Players

• Terrance Moncrief (NCC): 8-15 FG (0-2 3PT), 2-2 FT; 18 pts, 6 reb (2 off), 4 ast, 1 stl. The senior has been a big part of NCC's 4-1 start to the campaign. After hitting a layup at the buzzer to beat Whitman in Washington a couple weeks ago, Moncrief has continued to play well, and his relentlessness in attacking the basket has helped open up opportunities for his teammates.
• Drew Gaston (NCC): 2-6 FG (0-1 3PT), 9-10 FT; 13 pts, 8 reb, 1 blk. Gaston played 20 minutes off the bench last night, but was a key part in lifting the Cardinals to the win. His eight rebounds were second-most on the team behind only Ethan Helwig's nine, but it was his work late at the charity stripe that iced the contest. Gaston through five games is 30-31 from the line.
• Noah Mason (BEN): 8-11 FG (2-3 3PT), 4-9 FT; 22 pts, 6 reb (3 off), 2 ast. Just a freshman, Mason looked really good in this contest. He arguably should have been assessed the technical foul for a dead ball shove (the tech was assessed to Ryan Tucker, who may have also done some shoving), but otherwise played very well both inside and out, though he would eventually foul out of the contest. The one number that should jump out at you though? Don't worry, we're getting there.

Key Stats

• NCC: Outrebounded BEN 49-34. I debated about the rough showing from three in this game (7-26, including missing their final 12 in the second half), but for a team that was getting outrebounded by about five per game through the first four contests to win that battle by 15 was a good sign. This bore out in second chance points too, with the Cardinals outscoring the Eagles 18-5 in that category.
• BEN: 20-32 FT (62.5%). This was the big one. Down 15, Benedictine did what you should be doing in that situation: attack the basket, draw fouls, and try to score with the clock stopped. It got a bunch of North Central players into foul trouble, with two Cardinals fouling out. There's just one problem: during their second half comeback, the Eagles repeatedly split their pairs of free throws and managed to hit just 12 of 21 in the second half. In a game where you went to overtime missing that many... you do the math.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• @ UW-Platteville 77, Augustana 50 (3-1)
• MSOE 88, @ Carroll 80 (2-4)
• @ Carthage 76, Ripon 66 (3-2)
• @ Elmhurst 82 (3-2), St. Mary's (MN) 68
• @ Millikin 49 (2-3), Aurora 45
• @ North Park 72 (2-3), Anderson 64
• Hope 73, @ Wheaton 46 (3-4)

Final Thoughts

Photo by Chris Kohley

The Battle of Chicago-Maple Avenue always seems to produce some weird results, and this is arguably one of them. Just a few days after this North Central team went up to Platteville to take on the Pioneers, the #2 team in the country, lead by double digits, before ultimately falling in overtime up there, the Cardinals needed an extra session again against a team that had one win in the bank so far this season. Unlike this past Saturday though, the Cardinals were able to pull it out.

I'm not sure how good this Cardinal team truly is. A couple of their wins should probably have been by more, but it's early enough in the season that I'm not too worried about things yet. This team has beaten who they should have so far, and has a few more tuneups prior to their CCIW opener in a week.