Game Notes: (MBK) Elmhurst University @ North Central College (1/24/22)

Final Score
NCC 79, Elmhurst 70

Game Summary
Early on, this seemed like a repeat of the Illinois Wesleyan game as the Blue Jays (12-5, 4-4) jumped out to a 17-4 lead just five and a half minutes into the game, forcing Todd Raridon to burn his second early timeout. The Cardinals (11-5, 6-2) had to burn a third at the halfway point of the first half as Elmhurst built a 32-11 advantage. North Central followed that timeout with a 9-0 run, but couldn't trim it to single digits as the Jays took a 45-29 lead into the locker room. A couple early second half Cardinal pushes were negated by answers from Elmhurst, especially halfway through the second half when the Cardinals surrendered a fast break dunk by the Jays to push their lead to 15. But then the Cardinals started to claw their way back, scoring eight straight to cut it to single digits. Elmhurst still led by nine with a little over seven minutes to go before the Cardinals embarked on a decisive 14-0 run that gave the Cardinals their first lead of the game, and the Jays would not recover.

Key Players

• Matt Helwig (NCC): 9-12 FG (1-2 3PT), 2-5 FT; 21 pts, 9 reb (1 off), 5 ast, 1 stl. Having just been crowned the CCIW Men's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week, the nation's third-leading scorer ended up a little below his season average in this one, but was still a key portion of the comeback in this one. He helped keep the Cardinals in it with 10 points in the first half, then kept them in it for most of the second half before scoring two points during the key 14-0 run. His nine rebounds tied the game-high.
• Shea Cupples (NCC): 6-10 FG (5-9 3PT)l 17 pts, 6 reb, 7 ast. First off, that's a pretty good Connor Raridon-esque box score. Second off, let's differentiate the numbers by half. Shea had four assists and a couple rebounds in the first half, but was 0-4 from beyond the arc and I wasn't feeling super confident in him at the break. But then the second half started. He hit back to back triples fairly early that cut into Elmhurst's half-high lead of 17 points, added a third that trimmed it to four, a fourth that gave the Cardinals their first lead of the game, then served up the dagger with about two minutes to go when he banked home a fifth, followed next time down by adding a layup to push the lead to eight. I think this was easily the best game of Shea's career, and I'm dubbing this, at least for now, The Shea Cupples Game.
• Jake Rhode (ELM): 5-18 FG (2-14 3PT); 12 pts, 3 reb (1 off), 1 ast. Rhode is going to be a unanimous First Team All-CCIW and will likely finish the year as an All-American. So it wasn't a surprise in the early going when he hit two of his first three trey attempts to help get the Jays out to an early 17-4 lead; his second forced the second NCC timeout. So you'd be forgiven for thinking game more or less over five and a half minutes in with him off to a good start. And yet now, look at his final line for the game and marvel at it. He missed his final 11 shots from beyond the arc, something seemingly unthinkable given his history. If he's any closer to his normal self, we're talking about a completely different ball game, considering the help he had from his supporting cast in this game.

Key Stats

• NCC: 8-16 FT (50.0%). This is alarming. And it also factors in a 2-5 night at the stripe by Matt Helwig, who is now ninth in the country in free throw percentage thanks in part to a streak of 61 consecutive makes that was snapped on Saturday at Carthage. They got away with it in this one somehow, but may not again.
• ELM: 7-26 3PT (26.9%). It wasn't just Rhode. The whole Blue Jay team was a tale of two halves. They were hot early as part of building that huge early lead and finished 7-14 from deep in the first half. Those of you who are quick at math will note that that means an 0-12 second half. Rhode took six of those 12 triples that missed, so it wasn't just him that went cold; it was really the whole team.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• IWU 89 (15-2, 8-1), @ CAR 72 (8-9, 1-7)

Final Thoughts

Photo by Steve Woltmann

The Miracle on Brainard Street. The Oshkosh game. Recent years have been kind to Merner Fieldhouse in the number of amazing finishes and outstanding games. And now, The Shea Cupples Game can be added to the lore of legend. I have to count, but I know I'm getting close to the century mark of North Central men's basketball games I've announced. And when the time comes, I want to do a countdown of the best/my favorites. Those two aforementioned games will be at or near the top of the list. And now... so will this one.

#ElmhurstBlewA21PointLead https://t.co/rMxFNqUVTr

— Lucas Mitzel🎙 (@northsider89) January 25, 2022

It was unbelievable even as it was happening. You don't expect after getting your butt kicked for the first ten minutes of a game that you're going to be in it, but the Cardinals never gave up. And even then, with the Cardinals threatening and ultimately pulling back within single digits, it didn't seem like it was going to happen. We were all kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop; Rhode was due to hit eventually. But he kept missing, the Cardinals continued to claw back, he kept missing, all of the sudden it was a one possession game, and then the next thing you know the Cardinals have a lead with under five minutes to go, then they push it out and get a dagger with just couple minutes to go and a building that was limited in fans due to COVID restrictions was as loud as it's been since the Oshkosh game.

I don't want to say this was a must-win for the Cardinals, but in a way it was. This was the halfway point of the conference slate with a pair of losses combined with some struggles in non-conference that won't give this squad a lot of leeway when it comes time to start looking at regional rankings and think about building out a tournament bracket. And even in the CCIW itself, coming into a year where the projection was a big three of Illinois Wesleyan/Wheaton/Elmhurst with the Cardinals a tier below, an 0-2 start against that triumvirate had those projections looking spot on. Instead, with the win North Central finds itself a half game up on Wheaton for second place. With a sweep of eighth place Carthage in hand and one more to go against everyone except North Park, whom the Cardinals have yet to play, this team is in good shape, but doesn't have a lot of margin for error with eight to go.

The second half of CCIW play begins Wednesday as the Cardinals welcome in Augustana. NCC has a win over the Vikings at Carver already in the books and is looking to keep pace with Illinois Wesleyan. Oh yeah... and The Belt^TM is going to be in the building on Wednesday.

Game Notes: (WBK): Elmhurst University @ North Central College (1/24/22)

Final Score
NCC 72, Elmhurst 50

Game Summary
This one was never in doubt, as despite the Blue Jays (2-15, 0-9) taking a 3-2 lead a minute and a half into the contest, that was all they'd get in the opening ten minutes as the Cardinals (7-10, 4-4) cruised out to a 19-3 lead by the end of the quarter. The run finished out at 19-0 before the Blue Jays finally got the lid off the basket. The lead grew to 20 by the halfway point of the second, and the Cardinals took a 22 point advantage into the locker room. North Central pushed the lead as high as 26 in the third, and while the Blue Jays made a mini push right at the end of the third into the fourth, but got no closer than 18 while the Cardinals got the lead as high as 29 before lead assistant Chrissi Ekhomu called off the dogs in the final minutes.

Key Players

• Elle Sutter (NCC): 9-16 FG (2-6 3PT), 1-3 FT; 21 pts, 4 reb (2 off), 2 ast, 5 stl. Elle is quickly turning into a piece the Cardinals can build around for the future. I'd completely forgotten about the collection of steals, but she wreaked havoc on a mostly young Elmhurst backcourt and got quite a few breakaway layups. With her size as well, she's rounding into a strong all-around player. I don't think she's All-CCIW quality... at least not yet, but she's trending in the right direction.
• IxChel Leeuwenburgh (NCC): 6-6 FG, 3-4 FT; 15 pts, 9 reb (5 off), 1 ast, 1 stl. I haven't really been able to hype up one of my favorite Cardinals of late, but she showed up in this one. She had plenty of open looks for layups, and did a good job at the line as well. But the team's best rebounder showed up in this one despite only having three boards at halftime (which I thought seemed low because she seemed to keep ending up with loose balls). When she stays out of foul trouble... she's a problem on the boards, and showed she can't be ignored on offense either.
• Marissa Urso (ELM): 5-8 FG (1-2 3PT), 2-2 FT; 13 pts, 2 reb (1 off), 2 ast, 1 stl. Not a lot of positives to write home about for this one for the Blue Jays, so we'll go with the veteran guard who put up decent numbers in an otherwise forgettable night for the visitors.

Key Stats

• NCC: Outrebounded Elmhurst 44-31. I feel like the Jays had a slight size advantage in this one, but it sure didn't seem like it. That's an impressive rebounding margin for the Cardinals, who collected 18 offensive rebounds leading to 20 second chance points. Elmhurst, by comparison, had seven for six points.
• ELM: 21 turnovers. I feel like 20 is kind of the magic number for turnovers in women's basketball. It's not necessarily a causal link or anything, but anecodotally seems like if you hit that mark in turnovers you're going to have a bad time. And sure enough, the Blue Jays did, with their 21 giveaways leading to 28 Cardinal points. The Jays, for comparison, had 12 off 14 Cardinal turnovers. These two stats more or less tell the story.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• IWU 68 (11-7, 8-1), @ NPU 49 (11-5, 4-4)
• AUG 67 (8-10, 2-7), @ CRL 58 (12-4, 4-4)

Final Thoughts
Looking at records in advance, I expected a win. I did not expect the Jays to go almost ten minutes between baskets in the early going while the Cardinals built an insurmountable lead, but that's what ended up happening. It was more or less cruise control from there on out for a Cardinal team down its head coach, as Maggie McCloskey-Bax missed her second straight game due to COVID. Chrissi Ekhomu is 2-0 as the acting head coach, and from what I've heard McCloskey-Bax is doing okay.

I'm skipping the "halfway through conference play" post this year because of all the postponements we've had that have thrown the schedules off, but North Central has knocked out half of its schedule with two against Carroll still to go and a sweep of Carthage in the books. At this stage, we have a couple of tiers. Millikin and Illinois Wesleyan are the class of the conference at 8-1 apiece (with the Titans holding the tiebreaker so far). At the bottom end, you have this Blue Jay team as well as a struggling Augie team (who did get a big win at Carroll on Monday, in fairness)... and then North Central clustered in a group with the rest of the conference. You've got five teams more or less fighting for those last four spots, and the Cardinals are right in the thick of it. The worst loss was by 15 at the Shirk Center in a game the Cardinals led at halftime, as well as 13 point loss at Wheaton, but the other two losses are quality: by six at Millikin and the overtime heartbreaker at home against North Park last week I didn't get to write a recap about. The aforementioned Carthage sweep, plus taking care of business against the bottom of the league has the Cardinals in good position with eight to go.

The upcoming schedule is pretty favorable as they'll get a chance to face those teams in the cluster a second time (or both times, in the case of the Pios) and get the two leaders at home. First up on Wednesday is a rematch with an Augustana team the Cardinals dispatched fairly easily last week.

Game Notes: (MBK) Elmhurst College @ North Central College (2/28/20)

Final Score
Elmhurst 71, NCC 60

Game Summary
This game started out in a similar fashion to the last one between these two teams, as the Cardinals (21-5) were able to trade some early leads with the Blue Jays (22-5), but there was no dry spell for Elmhurst on this night. North Central reached its high water mark about halfway through the first half with an 18-12 advantage and again a few minutes later at 25-19. But then the Jays went on an 8-0 run sparked by back to back threes. They couldn't take full advantage, and the Cardinals battled back to take a 32-31 lead into the locker room. Elmhurst looked fresher and more ready to open the second half, scoring the first five points to take the lead back, but the Cardinals kept it close thanks in part to both teams shooting themselves in the foot a little bit. After each team received a flop warning earlier in the game, North Central drew a technical foul for a flop about five minutes in, allowing the Blue Jays to go up four instead of three. Elmhurst let the Cardinals back in with a Class A technical foul (two shots), and drew a Class B for a flop of their own a few minutes later, the latter of which pulled the Cardinals back within one. But the Jays hit a three the next time down, then after trading layups, an end of bench Cardinal drew a Class A technical, giving the Jays a four point possession to help spark what turned into a 13-0 run to extend their lead to 15. The Cardinals got no closer than seven the rest of the way, as the Jays advance to tomorrow's CCIW title game with The Belt^TM in their possession for the first time this year.

Key Players

• Jake Rhode (ELM): 7-16 FG (4-8 3PT), 7-7 FT; 25 pts, 7 reb, 2 ast. Three weeks after struggling in this same building, Rhode came out guns blazing, hitting an early three, but he only had eight at halftime. He came alive after the break though, scoring 17, including a couple more threes and a perfect 5-5 mark from the free throw line.
• Derek Dotlich (ELM): 5-11 FG (2-6 3PT), 3-3 FT: 15 pts, 2 reb (1 off), 2 ast, 3 stl. Dotlich's first game here was even worse (0-6, including 0-4 from deep if I remember right). But he got an early fast break layup to break out, and hit a couple big threes, one in each half. The three steals were a team high; Lavon Thomas had the other two for the Jays.
• Connor Raridon (NCC): 6-18 FG (1-4 3PT), 5-5 FT; 18 pts, 10 reb (2 off), 6 ast, 1 blk. On a night where pretty much everybody struggled, Connor did all he could to will his team onto the finals. But even his best effort wasn't enough, as the Jays did a pretty good job forcing him into tough shots, and he missed at least one point blank layup that could have turned the tide.

Key Stats

• NCC: 22-60 FG (36.7%), 7-25 3PT (28.0%). That's not going to get it done. Elmhurst played good defense, but like I just touched on, the Cardinals missed, that I can clearly remember, three point blank clean layups in just the second half. It wouldn't have been enough to fully turn the tide, but hitting those maybe stops the bleeding and gives you energy to get a stop. I don't know. The threes not falling tonight either didn't really help.
• ELM: Outrebounded NCC 41-38. Each team had 31 defensive rebounds... meaning the Jays got three additional second chance opportunities, scoring eight second chance points to North Central's four. Combine that with the three missed layups by the Cardinals mentioned above... that's 10 of your 11 points that made the difference. I feel like saying that though does a disservice to the Blue Jays, because the stat line kind of bears out what the eye test tells you. The Jays had more energy and played like it, especially in the second half.

CCIW Semifinal Watch

(3) IWU 74, (2) AUG 70

This was a great one to open the evening. The Vikings (18-8) seemed to be in control for most of it, and actually held the lead for over 36 minutes of game time, and were up by as many as seven in the first half, but the Titans (19-8) came back to tie a couple times before going into the break down 34-31. The Vikings again tried to pull away in the second half, but couldn't get farther than six up, and the Titans managed to come back late to tie a couple times again before taking the lead for good with 1:36 left. Peter Lambesis was ridiculous, putting up a game-high 28 points, Cory Noe added 17, Matt Leritz finished with 11, and Alex O'Neill only had six points but played some great defense to lead the Titans to the upset win. Austin Elledge and Micah Martin each had 19 points to pace the Vikings, while Pierson Wofford chipped in 15.

Bonus Grey Giovanine Jacket Watch
I was really on watch for this in a neutral game. It was Grey Giovanine's second trip to Naperville this season, so it was the second time of getting to look for it. Ultimately, he was chill with regards to the jacket even as he was laying into some of his players, before finally removing it with 4:05 to go in the first half.

Women's CCIW Tournament Watch

• (1) WHE 76 (20-6), (6) NCC 44 (12-15)
• (2) IWU 76 (18-8), (5) AUG 75 (14-13) (OT)

Final Thoughts

I want to get this out of the way first: I felt like I announced a road game tonight. The Blue Jays brought a ton of students to this one, and they were into the game pretty much the whole way, but especially in the second half. I really think their team then fed off that, especially during that key 13-0 run that put the game on ice. I'm not thrilled that North Central couldn't muster a student section in response... but what can you do.

With that out of the way, let me tip my hat to the Blue Jays. After a heartbreaking loss to the Cardinals at Elmhurst back in December, then a rough trip to Naperville three weeks ago, they were clearly up for this one, and definitely outplayed the hosts tonight. They earned their way to the title game, where they are going up against a never-say-die Illinois Wesleyan team for the CCIW's automatic bid. The Blue Jays should be in the NCAA Tournament already; this would be a formality for them. The Titans almost definitely need to win tomorrow night to get in.

As for the Cardinals, I think they're pretty safe. They entered the weekend ranked fourth in the Central, and while they may drop in the final set, they've set themselves up nicely the past few weeks to still have the resume to make it as an at large. They should be far enough away from the bubble that they won't have a ton of drama on Selection Monday. But the loss today, in addition to passing on The Belt^TM to their vanquishers, it also likely ends any chances of NCAA Tournament games in Naperville.

I'll probably do a writeup on the CCIW title game tomorrow or Sunday (maybe Monday, depending) since I'll still be working that game. Monday, once the bracket is out, I'll have a look at what the Cardinals are looking at for a tournament matchup, assuming they do in fact make it.

2020 CCIW Men's Basketball Tournament Preview

The women's tournament preview is in the books. Let's move onto the men.

This is one I'm more able to write about, as I didn't get to see a ton of women's games this season (though I still tried to follow as best I could). For the men though, I saw every home game and chunks of many road games, and this is maybe the most excited I've been for a conference tournament in a long time.

Of course, there's a reason for that as we go into the second year with the six team format. As with the women, the top two teams get byes to the weekend, while the higher seeds host the play in games on Tuesday.

One More to Go: A CCIW Update

The regular season concludes tomorrow for the CCIW... which means we have to look at how the CCIW Tournament races are shaping up.

This is an annual feature for me where I look at all the different clinching scenarios. Earlier this week I had thought about trying to crunch numbers with two games to go for odds of each team getting certain tournament seeds. The math proved to be a little too much for me, but I will include the numbers here now that there's just one game to go and the math becomes much more simple.

As usual, a lot of the tournament spots have been claimed already, but seeding is all still well up for grabs. I consider it the advantage in Year Two of having a six team tournament instead of only four. Let's have a look.

Game Notes: (MBK) Elmhurst College @ North Central College (2/8/20)

Final Score
NCC 56, Elmhurst 45

Game Summary
Celebrating one of the best senior classes I can remember, the Cardinals (17-4, 10-2) took the early lead in this one, but for the first few minutes couldn't grab firm control as the Blue Jays (18-4, 9-4) were able to play decent defense and keep it close. The Blue Jays split a pair of free throws with 11:15 to go in the half to cut their deficit to one... and then the bottom fell out. The Blue Jays went ice cold and the Cardinals embarked on a nine minute 20-0 run capped by an alley oop and a three that rolled around the rim three or four times before finally falling, forcing Elmhurst's John Baines to burn three timeouts over the span in an effort to stop the bleeding. But the Cardinals even got revenge for last year, hitting a 30 foot runner at the halftime buzzer to take a commanding 34-15 advantage into the break. The Cardinals would lead by as many as 21, but the Blue Jays began to battle back in the second half, trimming the deficit to single digits with about eight minutes to play. But they would get no closer than eight as the Cardinals completed the season sweep.

Key Players

• Matt Cappelletti (NCC): 5-13 FG (3-7 3PT), 3-4 FT; 16 pts, 11 reb (2 off), 1 ast. Senior Night was Cap's night to shine. He's struggled from deep for a chunk of this year, and did for a bit early in this one, but eventually the lid came off the bucket and he started to take over, hitting two of his threes during that decisive run, including the rollaround one that capped the proceedings. His assist came on a beautiful alley oop to Blaise Meredith that brought down the house.
  

  An alley-oop from Blaise Meredith highlighted a huge first half for @NCCMBB as they lead #8 Elmhurst 34-15 at the half! #WeAreNC pic.twitter.com/PDF0SoaXDm

  — NCC Cardinals (@NCC_Athletics) February 9, 2020

• Jake Rhode (ELM): 4-15 FG (3-7 3PT), 4-4 FT; 15 pts, 7 reb (1 off), 3 ast. Normally after a win I'd highlight more North Central guys, but by picking a couple Elmhurst players, I am. Rhode was a preseason All-American and will almost certainly be a unanimous First Team All-CCIW guy. But Saturday was not his Magnum Opus. With Aiden Chang or Blaise Meredith firmly in his face most of the night, Rhode was held below his season average of 21 points a game on a very inefficient shooting night. 10 of his 15 points came after halftime when the Blue Jays made some adjustments, but shooting 27 percent from the floor isn't going to get it done. But if you think his night was bad...
• Derek Dotlich (ELM): 0-6 FG (0-4 3PT); 0 pts, 2 reb, 1 stl. ...consider what happened to Dotlich on Saturday. He also had to deal with a healthy dose of Blaise Meredith and Aiden Chang... and was completely shut down. He came into Saturday's game averaging 17.5 a night, so that was a big reason why the Cardinals were able to dominate so thoroughly. It probably won't happen again should these two teams meet in the CCIW Tournament, but it's got to be a confidence booster for the Cardinals.

Key Stats

• NCC: Outscored ELM in the paint 24-12. I had a bit of a hard time picking here, but you do the math. Lavon Thomas had a decent game for the Blue Jays, but Elmhurst also gave up too many easy looks inside at times, which the Cardinals took advantage of.
• ELM: 4-23 FG 1st half (17.4%). When you have a nine minute scoring drought, your shooting numbers aren't going to look particularly good, but holy hell. Elmhurst is averaging 85 points a game factoring this one in, shooting 47 percent from the floor as a team. The Cardinals just held them to around half of their season scoring output on much worse shooting than average. The second half brought progression to the mean, but this half was a big reason why the Blue Jays lost.

CCIW Scoreboard/The Belt^TM Watch

• AUG 78 (16-6, 10-3), @ IWU 64 (14-7, 8-4)
• Augustana gains possession of The Belt^TM
• WHE 88 (13-8, 7-5), @ NPU 69 (4-18, 2-11)
• North Park eliminated from CCIW Tournament
• CAR 68 (14-7, 6-6), @ MIL 63 (4-18, 1-12)
• Millikin eliminated from CCIW Tournament
• BYE- CRL (10-11, 3-9)
• WBK: ELM 65 (8-14, 3-10), @ NCC 56 (9-12, 5-7)
• WBK: WHE 58 (16-6, 9-4), @ NPU 54 (17-5, 10-3)
• North Park clinches a CCIW Quarterfinal home game with AUG, NCC losses
• WBK: @ IWU 83 (15-6, 9-3), AUG 57 (11-11, 6-7)
• WBK: CAR 58 (10-11, 5-7), @ MIL 49 (13-8, 6-6)
• WBK: CRL 70 (8-13, 3-9) @ Marian 30

Final Thoughts

This was a huge win for the Cardinals, not only because it was Senior Night, but also because of how it happened. I've never seen a more dominant half than the first half of this game, other than maybe the day Alex Sorenson destroyed Robert Morris. This win also gave them the season sweep of the Blue Jays, which means North Central owns the tiebreaker over not only them, but likely all other contenders for the CCIW crown. They may end up needing it.

North Central travels to Rock Island on Wednesday for a battle for The Belt^TM and first place in the CCIW... in a game that may decide where the conference tournament is being held. A Cardinal win puts them at least two up in the loss column on everyone with three to play, all but guaranteeing that there will be basketball in Gregory Arena the final weekend of February. A Vikings win would put Augustana in first place by half a game, with a one game lead in the win column, but the Cardinals would have a game in hand. That said, the Vikings' remaining schedule (vs Carthage, bye, vs North Park) seems easier than North Central's (at Carroll, vs Carthage, at Wheaton), so this makes the rematch a critical one.

This is all without getting into the fun side of Division III basketball... the regional rankings. The first set come out on Wednesday, February 12th, and I'll go in depth on what they are, what they mean, and what the postseason picture looks like for the Cardinals.

Attacking the Gauntlet Once More

Somehow, someway, I keep coming up with new titles for this annual post.

Like many of the conferences in Division III, the CCIW plays a double round robin in men's and women's basketball. Everyone has played eight games to date: one against every other opponent. So as we make the turn into the second half, this is where I start to write a little bit more on a weekly basis, beginning with this one. The regional rankings don't start coming out for another couple weeks yet, so we still have to wait for that, but this is where we start to look at postseason prospects for everyone, North Central in particular.

One More to Go: A CCIW Update

Part of my annual series on North Central basketball includes a final look at the conference tournament picture. So with one more day of games on the docket, let's get to work on this.

I need to give a ton of thanks and credit to Greg Sager, play by play guy for North Park athletics and frequent contributor to D3Boards, who did pretty much all of the legwork on the various scenarios.

We've had years on opposite ends of the spectrum in the past when I've run this feature. Some years it's a simple "Win and you're in" prospect. Other years, you have teams with absolutely zero control over their own postseason fate because of the weirdness of tiebreakers. This year, with the expansion of the conference tournament from four to six, it made more games meaningful but also opened up a whole new world of clinching scenario possibilities.

Details come after the jump, but suffice it to say that the men's clinching scenarios are a lot simpler than the women's. If you're curious, you can view the CCIW tiebreakers here.

Once More Unto the Gauntlet

I'm running out of titles. I was going to go with "Once More Unto the Breach," but I used that in 2015.

One of my many annual features as a part of NCAA Division III basketball season is a checkin on the rest of the conference at the halfway point. This will be followed up in the next couple weeks when the NCAA regional rankings drop, where I'll look at how North Central fares in that arena as well.

But for now, with a single round robin complete, let's look at how North Central is doing.

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

Final Score
NCC 82, Elmhurst 70

Game Summary
This one was nearly a disaster as the Cardinals (12-3, 4-2) scored the opening basket, but followed that up by allowing an 11-2 Blue Jay (9-5, 4-1) run. Elmhurst remained in firm control, pushing the lead to 22-9 about eight minutes in and forcing a North Central timeout. The Cardinals slowly chipped back away with a 15-4 run of their own to pull back within two, but a five second call on Connor Raridon flipped the momentum back Elmhurst's way. The Blue Jays seemed poised to take a ten point lead into the locker room, but Jake Rhode drained a 40 footer at the halftime buzzer to make it 43-30. After presumably getting the fear of God put into them at halftime, the Cardinals came out much better to start the second half, opening the stanza on a 7-0 run and finding a way to tie the game at 45 about six minutes in. The Blue Jays scored the next five, but that was their last real push of control as the Cardinals followed that with a 15-1 run highlighted by back to back threes to make it a 58-51 game and force an Elmhurst timeout before the Cardinals capped the run with one more bucket. The Blue Jays got no closer than five the rest of the way, with North Central pushing the lead as high as 14.

Key Players

• Connor Raridon (NCC): 5-11 FG (1-3 3PT), 6-7 FT; 17 pts, 4 reb, 9 ast. Connor had a decent shooting night, getting a somewhat rare three while also draining his usual array of fallaways and midrange jumpers. But he also found the open guy numerous times; his nine assists did not crack the top five for a single game, but he is the single game top five list.
• Tommy Koth (NCC): 5-9 FG (2-4 3PT), 2-3 FT; 14 pts, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl. I could have gone with Will Clausel (14 pts on 5-7/2-2/2-2 splits, 2 reb, 1 blk), but Tommy's line was more complete, and it was a much needed night for the senior getting what I believe was his first career start. Tommy's second triple was the one that gave the Cardinals a double digit lead with about three and a half to play. All in all, an excellent night.
• Jake Rhode (ELM): 10-20 FG (5-10 3PT); 25 pts, 3 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl. Rhode is in the conversation as one of the best guards in the league, and he showed why in this one. He hit three triples early to help build Elmhurst's big lead (including one "oh crap" wide open one). 14 of his points came before the halftime buzzer, including that 40 foot heave, but he cooled off a bit in the second half, attacking the basket more. The comment I made at the table was that he used up all his good juju on the heave.

Key Stats

• NCC: 7-23 3PT (30.4%). The reason I chose this stat was because of the disparity between halves. North Central went 1-11 (9.1%) in the first half before getting red hot in the second half (6-12, 50.0%), and I feel like to a degree, that tells the tale.
• ELM: 8-21 3PT (38.1%). Same thing here. The Blue Jays hit 7-13 in the first half, for an absurd 53.9% clip, then got cold in the second half, going just 1-8 (12.5%). Again, maybe the juju got used up.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• AUG 109 (13-1, 5-0), @ NPU 64 (4-11, 2-4)
• @ WHE 79 (10-4, 3-2), CRL 61 (5-10, 1-5)
• MIL 69 (8-5, 2-3), @ CAR 59 (6-8, 1-4)
• Bye: IWU (9-5, 2-3)

Final Thoughts

I talked with a North Central insider fan after the game, and he called it one of the best comeback wins he'd ever seen. While the North Central women's comeback against UW-Eau Claire in the magical 2014-15 season is still tops for me, this one has to rank up there. Normally, a team that gets a ridiculous shot to close a half would have all the momentum going into the locker room and coming back out for the second half, the opposite was the case in this game. The Cardinals took one to the nose, and came back standing. The win keeps them in third place in the conference, but they're now just half a game out of second place with the tiebreaker now in place against the occupants. It's a big win to snap a two game losing streak, but the schedule doesn't get any easier going forward. The Cardinals have a date in Bloomington against Illinois Wesleyan coming up on Wednesday, and while the Titans struggled early in CCIW play, they'll be ready for an incoming Cardinal team.

Game Notes: (WBK) Elmhurst College @ North Central College (1/5/19)

Final Score
Elmhurst 75, NCC 59

Game Summary
This game started well enough for the Cardinals (3-12, 1-5), as they opened the game with a 4-0 lead about a minute in. Then the wheels fell off as the Blue Jays (6-8, 2-3) scored the next nine to take control. The Cardinals were able to keep it relatively close though through the first quarter, trailing 17-13 after ten minutes. But then the Blue Jays started to hit from outside to build a double digit lead as the Cardinal offense stalled, with Elmhurst going into the break up 39-20. The Cardinals started the second half strong, scoring the first eight points, but the Blue Jays were able to push the advantage back to the mid teens as the quarter dragged on, leading 55-39 after three. North Central again managed to make a push in the fourth quarter, cutting the margin back to single digits about halfway through the frame, but at that point the teams began to trade baskets, with a late three point play effectively ending the contest.

Key Players

• Kellee Clay (ELM): 5-7 FG (1-1 3PT), 4-5 FT; 15 pts, 5 reb (1 off), 2 ast. The senior had a solid night here with a very efficient offensive performance, and helping contribute to a solid defensive night by the team. She also did a good job on the glass, tying for the second most rebounds on the team.
• Lisa Logan (ELM): 2-6 FG (2-2 3PT), 7-8 FT; 13 pts, 4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl. Most of Logan's damage came at the line, but she hit a couple big threes to give her team a huge advantage while also doing some damage on the glass and on defense.
• Lyndsay Brennan (NCC): 1-6 FG (0-3 3PT), 1-2 FT; 3 pts, 11 reb (4 off), 5 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl. This was a bad shooting night, but Brennan found a way to have an impact elsewhere, leading the game in rebounding and picking up quite a few dimes in this one. Too bad the shooting just wasn't there.

Key Stats

• NCC: 2-20 3PT (10.0%), 11-28 FT (39.3%). I had to include both shooting numbers in this one. The Cardinals didn't take many threes in the first half, but missed all of them, and their struggles continued in the second half. The bigger, and far more alarming stat, was the abysmal night at the free throw line. Such a night is unacceptable, and in a game where you lost by 16 (but some of those points came due to intentional fouls late)... you do the math.
• ELM: 7-15 3PT (46.7%). It sure seemed like the Blue Jays both shot and hit more threes than what this line says. They went 4-7 in the first half, doing a ton of damage especially in the second quarter to pull away.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• @ WHE 62 (11-3, 5-0), CRL 52 (7-7, 2-3)
• @ CAR 68 (9-5, 3-2), MIL 63 (5-9, 1-4)
• AUG 77 (10-5, 4-2), @ NPU 65 (6-9, 2-4)
• Bye: IWU (11-3, 4-1)

Final Thoughts

The first half of this game, in particular the second quarter, was one of the worst showings I've seen. I want to try to be optimistic about this team; knowing they're young and that they won't shoot this poorly probably ever again the rest of the way. But they're in last place in the conference and haven't won a single conference home game this year, even though most of the opposition has been beatable. The four teams that have left Naperville with victories this season have a combined three other victories in the conference.

I want to have confidence, especially with a date against Carthage coming up on Wednesday. This is going to be an emotional one: it's the first matchup for Maggie McCloskey-Bax against her former team, and the Lady Reds have lost four straight in Naperville, including last year's overtime victory that I'm still not sure how it happened. Hopefully that streak can continue.

One More to Go: A CCIW Update

It's an annual tradition, though maybe not unlike any other.

Tomorrow is the final day of the regular season in the CCIW, and actually the final time that we'll have regular season games on this day after just two years of the return to nine teams in the conference. Next season, the conference tournaments will expand from four teams to six in both men's and women's basketball. It's going to make more games matter at the end and possibly bolster resumes when it comes to the NCAA Tournament. But that's next year.

With the final day approaching, I always take the time leading up to it to look over the conference and see what the tournament scenarios are. This is where it's handy to have access to the list of CCIW tiebreakers, which was last updated in the fall of 2014 and may need to be updated slightly with Carroll's return. Fortunately, any updates that would need to be made won't impact either race. Also, compared to prior years, this year's post will be so much simpler than any other. As with last year, my thanks goes to the D3Boards community for helping sort through all of this.

Game Notes: (MBK) Elmhurst College @ North Central College (1/27/18)

Final Score
NCC 87, Elmhurst 74

Game Summary
Getting a shot at a quick Revenge Game, the Cardinals (14-5, 7-3) played pretty even with the Blue Jays (11-8, 4-6) for the first few minutes, overtaking an early 7-5 Elmhurst lead with a 9-2 run to grab control. The Blue Jays were able to keep it close, cutting the lead to one at one point, but a 9-1 Cardinal run extended the lead once again. North Central led by as many as 13, but thanks in part to a flagrant foul on Connor Raridon, Elmhurst was able to cut it to 10 by the break at 40-30. The Blue Jays came out of the locker room pretty strong, keeping the margin around that 10 point gap, though the Cardinals used a 9-0 run that included a Matt Cappelletti dunk to push the lead as high as 18. But like the prior matchup a week ago, the Blue Jays refused to go away and started hitting some outside shots, trimming the lead back down to eight, but that was as close as Elmhurst would get.

Key Stats

• Connor Raridon (NCC): 2-7 FG (1-1 3PT), 10-15 FT; 15 pts, 7 reb (2 off), 12 ast, 1 blk, 3 stl. Connor's had some subpar shooting nights this season, but he made up for it by getting to the line often in this one, while also doing a fabulous job of distributing the ball. His 12 dimes tied for the second most in a game in program history, while also breaking a pair of marks: the single season mark of 127, and the all time mark of 273, both held by Adam Teising.
• NCC: Six players in double figures. It was hard to pick just one more Cardinal to go alongside Connor, who was one of the six. Alex Sorenson did his usual thing (17 points, 12 rebounds), Erwin Henry led all scorers with 18 points on an efficient 6-10 shooting night, Matt Cappelletti added a monster 14 point, seven rebound, four block night, and Mike Pollack and Aiden Chang added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Normally for the Cardinals it's been one guy really going off to help give them their wins, but this was a very balanced attack with everyone getting involved.
• Jake Rhode (ELM): 5-11 FG (2-6 3PT), 6-6 FT; 18 pts, 5 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl. There were a few guys I could have gone with here for Elmhurst, but the freshman guard really impressed in this one. He hit a couple shots late in the second half to help keep Elmhurst in it, and he made his presence known on the other end of the floor with three steals. He'll be someone to watch next year when the Blue Jays will be really good again.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• CAR 81 (11-7, 6-3), @ AUG 78 (15-4, 7-3)
• @ IWU 87 (16-3, 9-1), NPU 47 (4-14, 1-9)
• @ MIL 94 (9-10, 2-8), WHE 75 (13-6, 6-4)
• Bye: CRL (6-12, 2-7)

Final Thoughts

This was a big win for North Central after the prior Saturday's loss to this same Elmhurst team. The Blue Jays did what they do again, hitting some long range shots to stay in the contest, but the Cardinals had too much firepower and in the second half made the Jays pay for some of their mistakes. It was a fitting end, as the Cardinals were able to hold the ball to run out the clock, giving me a chance to announce that Connor had broken both the single season and career assists records. The scary part: dude still has two more years of eligibility left. His one downside to this game was the flagrant foul he was whistled for late in the first half (which personally I thought was ticky-tack, though I can see why they called it). The problem was that they gave the wrong guy the free throws for it (Derek Dotlich took the shots, but Justin Fox was fouled on the play). The Cardinal bench protested, and the officials consulted with us at the table to see if we saw who was fouled, but it happened behind the play so we didn't. In the second half, one official came to the table and admitted his mistake, which I give him credit for.

Big picture wise, this weekend went about as perfectly for the Cardinals as you could ask it to. Other than Illinois Wesleyan winning, the other major contenders for the top of the league all lost, with Carthage leapfrogging Wheaton for fourth place in the conference. NCC remains in third, but is now in a tie with Augustana for second place just two games out of first place. The Wheaton loss was a shocker, especially given the margin. Both our official scorer and Clark, our SID, gave comparable shocked reactions to my showing them the scores in progress. It's still a five, maybe six, team race for the four tournament spots depending on how you feel about these Blue Jays (my take: they're a year away, but can still play spoiler this season).

The Cardinals have a tough one ahead, as they head north of the border to take on Carthage on Wednesday. Their regular season matchup there last year saw the Cardinals blow a late lead and lose in overtime, though they followed that up with a buzzer beater in the CCIW semifinal before knocking off Augie up there to win the tournament and get an invite to the NCAA Tournament. It will be a tough game against a Red Men team that has wins against Illinois Wesleyan and now Augustana this season. They'll be back home on Saturday for Senior Night against North Park.

Game Notes: (WBK) Elmhurst College @ North Central College (1/27/18)

Final Score
Elmhurst 61, NCC 41

Game Summary
The game started out much better for the Cardinals (4-15, 2-8), who opened the scoring and took the early 2-0 lead. Unfortunately the Blue Jays (11-8, 7-3) scored the next eight to take control and grabbed a 21-8 lead after one quarter. The second saw the Cardinals clamp down a bit on defense and close the gap to eight, but Elmhurst scored the last five points on the frame and took a 31-18 lead into the locker room. The Jays went on an extended 12-0 run to start the second half and effectively end the contest, as Maya Walls put the Cardinals on the board in the second half five and a half minutes into the frame, and the Jays took a 50-27 lead after three. The Cardinals didn't give up though, opening the fourth quarter on a 15-2 run to make it 52-40 with 4:25 left, but Natali Dimitrova's three to cap that run was the last field goal the Cardinals could muster, as Elmhurst pulled away again in the final minutes.

Key Stats

• Mikaela Eppard (ELM): 6-13 FG, 6-7 FT; 18 pts, 11 reb (1 off), 4 ast, 2 stl. A week before, Eppard went off for 24 and 16, so for the Cardinals to limit her damage a little bit was an encouraging sign. Eppard finished under 50 percent shooting, and found herself running the offense a little bit through the high post, but she still got hers before the night was done. Eppard is certain to be a First Team All-CCIW player, but the question remains of how much consideration for Most Outstanding Player she'll get.
• Kaela Jones (ELM): 3-8 FG (2-4 3PT), 3-4 FT; 11 pts, 6 reb (2 off), 6 ast, 1 stl. There were a couple other options for good Elmhurst players on here, but Jones definitely sticks out with her strong all around game, and she scored some key points off the bench in the second half. I was surprised she's not a starter, but she's a key piece for Elmhurst's second unit, which will help keep them in games.
• Mayson Whipple (NCC): 6-13 FG (2-5 3PT), 3-3 FT; 17 pts, 4 reb (1 off), 4 ast, 3 stl. Mayson's had some games where she struggled a little bit, but she had a solid performance in this one. She attacked the basket a little more rather than settling for stepback threes, while also pulling up from the elbow or free throw line a couple times. All in all, a pretty good performance, especially noting the three steals she had.

North Central "System" Watch

• Elmhurst Turnovers: 17. I wish this number were a little higher, obviously, but it's not a bad total. The Cardinals did force a ten second count in the backcourt in the first half, while tacking on nine steals. Mayson Whipple had the aforementioned three, while Bekah Foley added a pair.
• NCC 3PT: 5-27 (18.5%). Really, you could argue that this was the game. North Central had some good looks, and they just didn't fall. They didn't hit their first three until the second quarter, and really only got a boost during that 15-2 run in the fourth. Had they shot a little better, obviously it would have been a closer game, but I would have been interested to see just how much closer.
• NCC FT: 4-8 (50%). The Achilles heel of this team reared its head again, albeit in limited fashion. If you take Mayson Whipple away, the team went 1-5 at the line, which isn't acceptable. It didn't cost the Cardinals the game, but it's a momentum killer to miss out on three point plays or chances at free points. For the season, the Cardinals do remain above the 60 percent mark, and 60.6.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• CAR 80 (14-5, 7-3), @ AUG 74 (12-7, 5-5)
• @ IWU 105 (17-2, 10-0), NPU 53 (8-11, 3-7)
• WHE 75 (15-4, 8-2), @ MIL 53 (5-13, 0-9)
• Bye: CRL (5-13, 2-7)

Final Thoughts

Photo by Steve Woltmann (North Central College)

This one went about as expected for the Cardinals, who are all but guaranteed a losing record in the CCIW for the first time since 2013-14. But I was proud of the way the team fought back in the fourth quarter to make it interesting. Had they just been able to hit a few more shots, it could have come down to the wire. Alas, it was not meant to be.

Big picture wise, the Cardinals are now alone in eighth place in the CCIW, half a game back of Carroll and ahead of only winless Millikin. Elmhurst remains tied with a hot Carthage team for third place (and the Lady Reds have the head to head tiebreaker). But really, everyone is looking up at Illinois Wesleyan who is running away with the conference.

The Cardinals have two more in a row at home, and both are winnable games. They get a shot at revenge with Carroll coming to town on Wednesday before North Park comes in on Saturday for Senior Night. Hopefully in a week's time I'll be talking about the 4-8 in CCIW North Central Cardinals.

Once More Into the Gauntlet

I'm running a little behind on this feature, but it's one that I need to run.

Ever since I took over the PA gig at North Central, I've always taken a look at the conference standings at the halfway point of the schedule. It's good to get a look at what's going on and see where everyone stands with seven (or now, eight, with Carroll's return to the conference) games to play.

In a week and a half I'll have a look at where North Central stacks up regionally, but that's only because that's when the NCAA releases its regional rankings. For now, we're going to stick with the conference standings, for both the men and the women. Pictured at the start of each section will be a screenshot of the conference standings pulled from the Confessions of a Sportscaster sidebar as of Monday, January 22nd.

One More To Go: A CCIW Update

I didn't get to watch any of it live, but I'm reveling in the upset pulled off by NCC against Illinois Wesleyan. I guess if you maybe want to get technical, both of them.

The regular season all comes down to Tuesday, and while most of the CCIW Tournament field is filled, the seedings are still very much up for grabs. And so as I like to do on an annual basis going into the final game, here are the scenarios for seedings in next weekend's CCIW Tournament.

I do want to express my thanks to the D3Boards community for working out all of the men's scenarios, which greatly helped my understanding of how Tuesday's stuff was going to work.

Game Notes: (MBK) Elmhurst College @ North Central College (2/11/17)

Final Score
NCC 84, Elmhurst 60

Game Summary
This was another good game in the early going as the Cardinals (14-9, 8-6) traded baskets with the Blue Jays (6-17, 2-12) forcing five ties and five lead changes in the first ten minutes. Then the Cardinals went on a mini 7-0 run to break a 16-all tie, though Elmhurst hit some threes to keep it close, but the Cardinals were even more lethal from distance, hitting a barrage of them to take a 44-31 lead into the locker room. They picked up right where they left off to start the second half, bridging a pair of Blue Jay free throws with a pair of threes. North Central would push the lead as high as 31 before calling off the dogs.

Key Stats

• NCC: 12-29 3PT (41-4%). This was easily the best night the Cardinals had from distance (and you know when the men hit more threes than the women, they're on fire). More on that below, but this was a key for giving North Central the edge. The fact that former Heat Check guy Jayme Moten had to watch from Elmhurst's bench... even better.
• Alex Sorenson (NCC): 9-15 FG (4-6 3PT), 4-5 FT; 26 pts, 9 reb (2 off), 2 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl. Alex has struggled from deep this season, so it was nice to see him break out of his funk. He was able to establish himself in the post early as Elmhurst, despite the double teams, wasn't really able to stop him. Eventually he started to find himself open beyond the arc, and he made the Blue Jays pay. He checked in from a breather maybe midway through the second half and told me if he hit another to be louder with it. Unfortunately, I didn't get to oblige him, as he would foul out before hitting another.
• Jagger Anderson (NCC): 6-11 FG (2-5 3PT), 2-4 FT; 16 pts, 4 reb, 9 ast, 2 stl. After earning Player of the Week honors for last week, Jagger had a good home finale. He had his obligatory one ridiculous full speed layup for an and-one, and I continue to be impressed by how his jump shooting has improved. The book on him coming into the year was to dare him to shoot, and he's good enough to make teams pay for doing so. The fact that he dished out nine assists only adds to the legend. A good Senior Night for the Cardinals' lone elder statesman.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• @ Carroll 75 (12-10, 7-6), Augustana 70 (18-5, 11-3)
• @ Wheaton 70 (11-11, 7-6), North Park 67 (15-7, 8-5)
• Illinois Wesleyan 90 (16-6, 8-5), @ Carthage 78 (15-7, 8-5)
• BYE: Millikin (3-19, 1-12)

Final Thoughts 
The Cardinals close their home schedule with a 7-5 record. Not awful, but certainly underwhelming. They took care of business at home early in the season with wins over teams like Aurora and Alma, but there are too many home losses that hurt. North Central should have beaten UW-Platteville, probably should have beaten Robert Morris, and also have home losses to Augustana, Carthage, and North Park... only three of the top four teams in the CCIW. They make sense, but for a team with incredibly high expectations, they still hurt.

North Central has two games left: at Carthage on Wednesday, and at Illinois Wesleyan to close out the regular season on Saturday. The Cardinals will then miss out on next Tuesday, when the rest of the conference closes out the regular season, so North Central will have no real control over its own destiny. But they sit just half a game out of a three way tie for second place in the CCIW, and if they finish 10-6 in conference they should make the CCIW Tournament, especially given their opponents this week.

Game Notes: (WBK) Elmhurst College @ North Central College (2/11/17)

Final Score
Elmhurst 85, NCC 65

Game Summary
This had the makings of a great game early on as the Cardinals (11-11, 5-8) were hitting from beyond the arc and led by as many as seven, but the Blue Jays (18-5, 10-4) were able to keep pace. The Cardinals had a few leads including one at 22-19 with about three minutes to go in the first quarter before the wheels fell off. Elmhurst scored the next 15 points bridging the first and second quarters and the Cardinals went almost six minutes between field goals, allowing the Blue Jays to build a 46-31 halftime lead. The second half started slow, though the Cardinals got the opening basket, but the Blue Jays went on a 13-2 run to blow the game open. It was 63-42 Elmhurst after three, and the Blue Jays would lead by as many as 28 before settling into that final margin, while the Cardinals were able to get curtain calls for all four seniors on Senior Night. With the victory, Elmhurst clinched a berth in the CCIW Tournament, while the Cardinals are eliminated.

Key Stats

• Mikaela Eppard (ELM): 10-13 FG, 2-5 FT; 22 pts, 15 reb (2 off), 3 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl. Considering Eppard went off for 39 in the meeting at Elmhurst, a 22-15 line seems very quiet by comparison. But Eppard showed why she is the front runner for the CCIW's Most Outstanding Player this season, getting plenty of easy opportunities under the basket and did a great job on the boards. She's a fitting heir to Fiona McMahon, who won a Most Outstanding Player Award of her own a couple years ago for the Blue Jays.
• Kaela Jones (ELM): 6-11 FG (1-2 3PT), 1-1 FT; 14 pts, 9 reb (1 off), 6 ast. I was pretty impressed with how Jones played on Saturday as well. Elmhurst did a great job moving the ball around to find the open woman against NCC's trapping defense, and often Jones either was the open player or found her. Her six assists paced the team, and the Blue Jays as a squad got assists on 31 of their 37 field goals. That's insane.
• Paula Zerante (NCC): 4-8 FG (3-4 3PT), 3-4 FT; 14 pts, 1 reb, 1 stl. Of the four seniors in action, Paula probably had the best night, being the only Cardinal to score in double figures. It's a pretty good way to perform on Senior Night for one of the most energetic Cardinals I've seen.

North Central System Watch

• Elmhurst Turnovers: 29. Overall, not a terrible number. North Central logged 17 steals, paced by four from Michaela Reedy and three from Siarra O'Neil.
• NCC 3PT: 9-39 (23.1%). The Cardinals started okay, hitting a few first quarter threes to get a good start before cooling off a bit. The team was still at 31.3 percent by halftime with a 5-16 clip. The second half was not ideal though, as the Cardinals only went 4-23 for a 17.4 percent clip. You can't shoot that poorly against a team that good and expect to win.
• NCC Charges Drawn: 2. Anita Sterling picked up one more on Senior Night, and Jessica Dahle also drew one in the third quarter. I don't know that she will necessarily take on Anita's mantle or if anyone will end up at the Sophie Newson/Anita Sterling School of Drawing Charges, but I hope so because this is a fun stat to keep and one that needs to be kept as an official stat.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• Augustana 72 (16-7, 9-5), @ Carroll 51 (1-20, 1-12)
• Illinois Wesleyan 80 (16-6, 11-2), @ Carthage 49 (12-10, 6-7)
• Illinois Wesleyan clinches a CCIW Tournament berth.
• @ Wheaton 90 (18-4, 11-2), North Park 58 (11-12, 4-10)
• Wheaton clinches a CCIW Tournament berth.
• BYE: Millikin (9-13, 3-10)

Final Thoughts
All in all, the night was kind of a bummer. Senior Night is an emotional night, and Elmhurst has become a big rival on the women's side, so to get swept, especially on Senior Night, and have the loss eliminate you from the tournament for the first time in three years, it's a tough one. I think I've accepted though that this team wasn't quite as good as I expected coming in, though the team was also battered by injuries and has had some struggles in other key areas. This is a young team overall though, and one that has room to improve. They'll be back in the mix.

Since it was Senior Night, I wanted to make sure I recorded the moment for posterity. You can view the Senior Night festivities, national anthem, and starting lineups below.

#d3h Senior Night for @NCCWBB! https://t.co/oy1W95rs6j

— Lucas Mitzel (@northsider89) February 11, 2017

The Cardinals have three contests left, including one at home on Wednesday against Carroll that I won't be able to attend due to another commitment. I've already left instructions with Michelle Roof and a player or two to not break any records without me. After that, the Cardinals close the season on the road at Illinois Wesleyan and at Augustana. If the Cardinals can play a spoiler role in either of those games, it would be a nice note to end the year on, especially given the tough losses the Cardinals took at home against both teams.

A Second Run Through the Gauntlet

This is a feature I've run almost annually since I started Confessions of a Sportscaster, but it's the first year with nine teams. I think that means we're getting this started a few days earlier than we have been. Of course, I'm also writing this a couple days after we got through the first CCIW runthrough.

CCIW play is a double round robin, so every team in the conference plays everyone else twice: once at home and once on the road. There were a few quirks this season where some teams have played five games at home or on the road in conference, but for the most part most teams have played four at home and four on the road. The rest of the way, the sites flip. So with that in mind, let's have a look at the CCIW standings and how North Central looks going into the second half.

2016 CCIW Men's Basketball Tournament Preview

Yesterday, I previewed the women. Today, I preview the men.

The last month and a half to two months have had 56 games, all leading up to this. Four teams, three games. One team will win both of its contests this weekend, and get one of 43 automatic bids into the NCAA Tournament. The other three need to hope they put together a good enough resume to capture one of 19 at large spots that are up for grabs to enter the NCAA Tournament. I won't go into tournament chances today though; that comes on Wednesday when the final public regional rankings are released by the NCAA.

Ultimately, this season turned out roughly as expected. The four teams picked in the preseason poll to make the CCIW Tournament all made the CCIW Tournament, but the order wound up differing a little bit, and we once again had intrigue going into the final weekend.

So like we did yesterday for the women, let's set the scene for the CCIW Tournament and look at the four squads who will enter the fray.