Game Notes: (WBK) Wheaton College @ North Central College

Final Score
Wheaton 66, NCC 52

Game Summary
This one started okay as the Cardinals (6-9, 2-4) got some early baskets and ended up leading 16-15 after one quarter. But the Thunder (8-7, 3-3) scored the first ten points of the second quarter and held NCC off the board until after the media timeout, going into half up 32-23. The third quarter proved to be more of the same as the Cardinals turned the ball over numerous times and Wheaton pushed the lead to a dozen before the Cardinals made a little run, getting within four before going into the final frame down five. In the fourth, the Thunder made enough plays down the stretch to slowly be able to pull away.

Key Players

• Kate Oliver (WHE): 8-17 FG (3-6 3PT), 5-7 FT; 24 pts, 8 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk. Oliver had a phenomenal game offensively, scoring several key baskets all over the floor. North Central tried multiple defenders on her, and even in circumstances where they forced her to take a contested shot late in the possession, she'd end up making it. It was that kind of night.
• Annika Richardson (WHE): 9-14 FG (5-8 3PT); 23 pts, 11 reb (3 off), 2 blk, 1 stl. Richardson might have had a better night. Several of her threes were fairly open looks as the Cardinal defense did not do enough to contest a shot, and she took advantage. Her size led to a game-high in rebounds as well.
• Jocelyn Trotter (NCC): 4-12 FG (0-4 3PT); 8 pts, 7 reb (1 off), 1 ast, 5 stl. Trotter was a key part of the comeback effort late in the third and into the fourth quarter, especially with her defense. Unfortunately she couldn't get outside shots to fall, and couldn't do enough in the pullup game to compensate.

Key Stats

• NCC: 20 turnovers. The Cardinals committed nine turnovers in the first half, then proceeded to almost double that just in the opening first few minutes of the third quarter. It was a lot of careless passes; Wheaton committed ten steals in the game. But the Cardinals were also called for a handful of traveling violations, which didn't help matters either. While the Thunder only scored 14 points off those 20 turnovers, the fact that the Cardinals kept coughing it up was ultimately the problem.
• WHE: 26-63 FG (41.8%). In a vacuum, those numbers aren't bad. Having watched the game though, this was part of why the Cardinals stayed in the game. The Thunder shot just 5-18 in the opening quarter, and even while the Cardinals were turning the ball over a ton in the third, Wheaton shot just 5-14. But it was the even quarters where they made their mark, and an 8-21 day (38.1%) from beyond the arc was enough to propel them to victory.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• @ IWU 63 (16-0, 7-0), Carthage 42 (11-4, 3-3)
• @ AUG 58 (7-8, 3-3), MIL 48 (4-11, 3-3)
• @ ELM 74 (10-4, 2-4), NPU 59 (3-13, 0-7)
• BYE: CRL (10-5, 5-1)
• MBK: @ CAR 93 (11-4, 5-1), NCC 78 (10-6, 3-4)

Final Thoughts

This one hurt. After a game in Naperville last year where the Cardinals played a complete game (albeit against a less-than-full-strength Thunder team) and snapped the 31 game losing streak for a victory I'd waited 15 years for, they couldn't stretch the streak to two. It was not a well-played game, and while the Thunder didn't play their best either, their two best players were the two best players on the floor last night, and they made the plays when they needed to.

The loss puts the Cardinals in somewhat precarious position; they're 2-4 in CCIW play, with their two victories coming against Augustana and Elmhurst, but losses to Wheaton and Millikin put them effective a game and a half back of them as we near the halfway point. They'll hopefully get a chance to rebound at North Park on Saturday before closing out the first half of the round robin at home against Carthage next week.

Game Notes: (MBK) Wheaton College @ North Central College (1/8/25)

Final Score
NCC 86, Wheaton 48

Game Summary
This was a nice bounceback by the Cardinals (10-4, 3-2), scoring the game's first eight points. But the Thunder (3-10, 0-4) were able to hit some shots from outside to keep the game close, maintaining a single digit deficit for the entire first half, though a late three gave the Cardinals a 36-27 lead going into the break. The Cardinals clearly made some good halftime adjustments, and opened the second half on a 19-0 run, that extended to 24-5. Wheaton got no closer than 23 the rest of the way, with NCC getting its biggest lead at the final margin.

Key Players

• Ethan Helwig (NCC): 5-11 FG (4-10 3PT), 3-3 FT; 17 pts, 5 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl. Helwig led the Cardinals in scoring, and also had several of the biggest baskets in this one. He hit the three at the end of the first half to answer a Wheaton triple and turn a six point game into a nine point game. He hit two more threes during that aforementioned 19-0 run, plus a pair of free throws that turned the game into a rout. He also played some solid defense to keep Wheaton under wraps.
• James Bullock, Jr. (NCC): 4-10 FG (1-2 3PT), 6-6 FT; 15 pts, 6 reb (1 off). Bullock has started to become a key guy for the Cardinals coming off the bench, and this was probably his best outing. His shooting numbers from the floor aren't great, but he hit a big three at one point and did well from the line. His six rebounds led the team as well.
• Kyle Neibch (WHE): 6-9 FG (all 3PT), 1-2 FT; 19 pts, 4 reb. Niebch was the main focus of Wheaton's offense, and was a big reason why the Thunder stayed in the game in the first half. Four of his six triples came in the opening 20 minutes. His four rebounds were also a team high.

Key Stats

• NCC: Outrebounded WHE 44-19. I could have gone with NCC's three point shooting (12-29, 41.4%), but this number just leapt off the page. Wheaton started a five guard lineup, and though they did get some forwards in at times, they just couldn't win the glass. To help matters more, the Cardinals won the offensive rebounding battle 13-0, which I think might be a first in games I've done. This resulted in a 16-0 advantage in second chance points for the Cardinals.
• WHE: 17 turnovers. This is a lot. Starting with a number of traveling violations early in the game especially, they also did a poor job taking care of the ball in total. Cardinal defenders recorded 10 steals, and the 17 giveaways led to 24 Cardinal points (for comparison, Wheaton forced nine turnovers and got just eight points off them).

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• IWU 80 (12-2, 4-1), @ NPU 69 (9-5, 4-1)
• CAR 75 (9-4, 3-1), @ ELM 71 (6-8, 2-3)
• MIL 67 (9-4, 3-1), @ AUG 62 (8-5, 1-3)
• Bye: CRL (4-9, 0-4)
• WBK: @ MIL 80 (3-10, 2-2), NCC 69 (6-7, 2-2)

Final Thoughts

This result was a little bizarre. Wheaton has struggled this season, sure, but in conference they'd had some decent results: a six point loss at Elmhurst, a three point loss at home to North Park, and a five point overtime loss at home to Illinois Wesleyan (albeit in a game they'd led by nine with about four minutes left). So to see this Thunder team come out and get their doors completely blown off was jarring (in a good way). It's a big win for a Cardinal team that needed one after a couple tough losses last week. It also gets the team to 3-2 in conference prior to absolutely running the gauntlet. Three contests remain in the first round of the double round robin, all on the road: at Illinois Wesleyan, at Carthage, and at North Park. Those are the top three teams in the league, by the way. Stealing one to close at .500 at the halfway mark would be great, and anything beyond that is gravy. Meanwhile, 3-5 would be a challenging hole to climb out of, but a doable one with those aforementioned teams all still due to come to Naperville.

Game Notes (WBK): Wheaton College @ North Central College (2/25/21)

Final Score
Wheaton 69, NCC 61

Game Summary
Dressing just eight players tonight, the Thunder (10-1) got off to a bit of a slow start while the Cardinals (2-9) built a small early lead and kept it the rest of the frame, leading 13-11 after the first ten minutes. Wheaton turned it into a back and forth affair for a bit, though the Cardinals would push their lead as high as six with 4:22 to play and led by four with about two and a half to go. But the Thunder closed the half with eight straight to take a 32-28 lead to the locker room. The second half couldn't have started any better though, as the Cardinals scored nine straight to retake the lead. Wheaton fought back and made it a tight affair the rest of the quarter, as we went to the final stanza tied at 48. But as has been the theme for most of the season, the Cardinals went cold in the fourth, with the obvious sign coming on the opening possession as a perfectly drawn play saw Bekah Foley wide open in the lane, but she missed a floater, and the Thunder followed with back to back second chance buckets. NCC seemed to stay right in it with a three a minute or two later. But the Thunder put it away with a 9-0 run, keeping the Cardinals off the board for nearly five minutes, and late free throws iced Wheaton's 25th consecutive win over the Cardinals.

Key Players

• Hannah Williams (WHE): 8-18 FG (2-6 3PT), 6-8 FT; 24 pts, 6 reb (2 off), 3 ast, 2 stl. Wheaton's best player lived up to the billing, even though she wasn't the most efficient in this one. But she played the full 40 minutes with her team shorthanded, and her biggest play was probably a three that really sparked the 9-0 run, doubling Wheaton's lead late and pretty much killing any shot the Cardinals had at coming back.
• Annie Tate (WHE): 9-15 FG, 1-1 FT; 19 pts, 9 reb. The reigning CCIW Player of the Week showed up again in this one, getting a bunch of great looks in the paint and led the Thunder in rebounding to help give them an edge in that category.
• Allison Pearson (NCC): 8-19 FG (4-11 3PT), 1-2 FT; 21 pts, 3 reb, 6 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl. Pearson was probably the main reason the Cardinals stayed in this one. While not the most efficient night, it was still a good one for her.

Key Stats

• WHE: Outscored NCC in the paint 40-26. I was a little surprised to see that the Cardinals outscored the Thunder on second chances (14-4), so this more or less washes it out, but when a majority of your points come from in the paint, you're doing something right. North Central played pretty good defense, for what it's worth, with the Thunder making some circus-style shots as well. This also notes that NCC missed some opportunities. Speaking of...
• NCC: 3-9 FT (33.3%). Take the missed layups from Foley and others, add in six missed free throws (including a 1-5 mark in the final quarter)... and that's your game. NCC has done okay in other games from the line, but they're a 61 percent team for the season. That explains a lot of why this team is 2-9.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• @ NPU 65 (8-3), IWU 63 (3-3)
• CRL 73 (6-4), @ AUG 64 (3-5)
• ELM 65 (3-8), @ CAR 62 (2-9)
• BYE: MIL (8-3)
• MBK: @ WHE 79 (10-0), NCC 73 (5-5)

Final Thoughts
I keep getting myself all hyped up for the Wheaton games, knowing full well I'm going to end up getting hurt again. The Cardinals haven't beaten the Thunder since 2009, and not at Merner since 2008, a game that I called on WONC way back in the day. But in a lot of these games, the Cardinals have been in it and just can't close the deal. And unfortunately, I think that was the case today. I continue to be impressed with this North Central team though, despite the 2-9 record. This is a good team with a lot of heart, and an invested bench group. There's been other rough years, but this is a year that I think with a lot of young pieces that will be back next year, this could be a dark horse team for 2022.

The Cardinals will get one more crack to end the long streak on Saturday out at King Arena, and given the shorthandedness of the Thunder, combined with the fact that this is a feisty Cardinal team, they have a shot to do so. Coming up this weekend for me though, the men will get another crack at a currently unbeaten Wheaton men's team.

Tuesday will likely be my final game of the year, though whether it will be a CCIW Women's Basketball Tournament game or a men's date against Elmhurst remains to be seen.

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.

2020 CCIW Women's Basketball Tournament Preview

I'm trying to get these out a little earlier this year. For one thing, North Central is playing Tuesday, so I need to preview that. For another... the fact that this is now a six team tournament means I want to get with the program a little quicker.

This is actually the second year that the CCIW has used the expanded tournament; in prior years this was a four-team affair, but the six team group gives more teams a chance not only for an automatic bid, but also to bolster their resumes for at large selection into the NCAA Tournament.

So below I'm going to preview the entire CCIW Tournament field. I'm only putting the weekend site on here; the weekend part of the tournament hasn't changed in that the conference champion hosts the semifinals and finals, but the past couple years the Tuesday play-in games have had higher seeds host.

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.

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.

Game Notes: (MBK) Wheaton College @ North Central College (1/4/20)

Final Score
NCC 74, Wheaton 71 (OT)

Game Summary
This one lived up to the billing going in, with the Cardinals (10-3, 3-1) scoring the game's first four points. But the Thunder (9-4, 3-1) answered with seven straight, settling us into a dogfight. The lead changed hands a few times in the half before the Cardinals settled into a 32-27 advantage going into the break. The Cardinals kept that one-to-two possession advantage for a few minutes, but the Thunder used a 12-2 run to grab a lead of their own about seven minutes into the half. A key off-ball foul on a made three extended their lead to six at 54-48, and Wheaton would lead by as many as eight at 58-50 with about seven minutes to go, but then the Cardinals mounted their comeback. North Central got a bunch of points back at the line, but the Thunder were more or less answering each time, but a missed one up 63-58 with four minutes to go opened the door. The Cardinals scored five unanswered over the next couple minutes to tie the game, and neither offense could muster a successful possession, forcing extra time. The bonus session prompted a back and forth affair for the first few minutes, but another Wheaton missed free throw opened the door, and a three with just under a minute to play gave the Cardinals a one point lead. Wheaton turned it over on the other end, with the Cardinals calling a timeout to avoid a jump ball which would have given the Thunder the ball back. After emptying their reserve of timeouts, a full court pass ended up out of bounds, but good hustle forced Wheaton to go the length of the floor, and a fallaway for the lead bounced off the rim, with a pair of Cardinal free throws sealing the deal.

Key Players

• Connor Raridon (NCC): 10-19 FG (1-2 3PT), 15-15 FT; 36 pts, 8 reb (2 off), 6 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl.  This might have been the best game I've seen Connor play. On a night where the rest of the team struggled from the field (15-41, just a tick below 40%), he took the game over, attacking the basket and getting to the line again and again, where he made the Thunder pay. His 15 made free throws were the second-most of his career, tied for the sixth-most in program history, and is the fifth time Connor was perfect at the line in a game with at least ten attempts (first since the NCAA Tournament loss to Loras this past March). The Cardinals needed Connor on Saturday, and he responded in the biggest way.
• Blaise Meredith (NCC): 4-13 FG (0-5 3PT), 1-2 FT; 9 pts, 8 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl. This season has been a bit of a struggle for Blaise; he's only averaging about seven points a game on 34/32/59 splits, but it's not for a lack of trying. He has the confidence, as evidenced by his five three attempts in this one, which were pretty much all on line, but drew back iron. Even with that, he still tied for the team lead in rebounds, drew a couple charges, and some of the buckets he hit were huge, opening the scoring in overtime and getting a big bucket plus a foul with his team down eight to spark the comeback effort. I fully believe the threes will start to fall, and when they do... look out.
• Cade Alioth (WHE): 6-12 FG; 12 pts, 11 reb (4 off), 6 ast. I could have gone a few different directions with my Wheaton pick; Tyson Cruickshank and Luke Anthony led the team in scoring with 17 apiece, while Nyameye Adom put in 14 for the Thunder. But Alioth was a presence for Wheaton, playing some decent interior defense and leading the game in rebounding. He hit a few tough shots throughout the game, and the final play was called for him, but the Cardinals did a great job swarming him, and his fallaway hit off the back of the rim and bounced away.

Key Stats

• NCC: 18 points off 18 WHE turnovers. Wheaton shot better in this game on the whole (46/48/73 for the Thunder, 42/29/90 including Connor for the Cardinals) and outrebounded North Central. Normally those metrics give you a win, but Wheaton did not take care of the ball in this one. They were called for about half a dozen travels, mostly in the first half, prompting a complaint from Wheaton coach Mike Schauer (after each team had been called for one late in the half, he was yelling, "Don't call either one of those!")
• WHE: 11-15 FT (73.3%). Normally, I'd be fine shooting 73 percent at the line, and only missing four isn't bad. But when you lose by three in overtime... you start to nitpick. Wheaton hit both of their first half attempts, then went 7-9 in the second half. Luke Anthony split a pair with the Thunder up four, only extending the lead to five at 63-58, and Nyameye Adom missed the front end of a one-and-one about a minute later, then turned it over to set up North Central's tying rally. Then in overtime, Adom split a pair with about three minutes to go, ending up tying it instead of putting his team up one, and Anthony split a pair with just under a minute to play, only giving his team a two point lead, setting the stage for Connor Raridon's heroics. Misses can be forgiven, obviously, especially when you shoot well for the game, but if Wheaton makes even one of these... I may be writing about a North Central loss.

CCIW Scoreboard/The Belt^TM Watch

I'm adding a section to the CCIW Scoreboard Watch for this season just because we've got a fun additional incentive to CCIW games this season. I'll have to do a full post about it sometime, but long story short, in 2007 someone on D3Boards came up with the idea for a Division III Championship Belt^TM, and over the past decade-plus it has morphed into a supernatural force with the legal backing of weasels. Basically, It^TM was conceived as being won by the 2006 national champion, and whoever beats the holder takes possession until they themselves are beaten. Going into the resumption of conference play, Millikin was the holder, meaning It^TM will remain in the CCIW for the rest of the regular season. As such... we are now officially on Belt^TM Watch as well. The game for The Belt^TM will be included as part of this section for the remainder of the season.

• @ IWU 80 (9-4, 3-1), MIL (BELT^TM) 71 (3-10, 0-4)
• IWU gains possession of The Belt^TM
• AUG 84 (8-4, 2-1), @ CAR 68 (9-3, 1-2)
• ELM 82 (11-1, 2-1), @ CRL 81 (9-4, 2-2)
• Chicago 85, NPU 65 (2-10, 0-3)
  
• WBK: WHE 52 (9-4, 2-2), @ NCC 40 (5-8, 1-3)
• WBK: @ IWU 86 (9-4, 3-1), MIL 81 (8-4, 1-2)
• WBK: @ CAR 90 (7-5, 2-1), AUG 84 (7-6, 2-2)
• WBK: ELM 56 (6-6, 1-2), @ CRL 55 (5-7, 1-3)
• WBK: Bye- NPU (10-2, 3-0)

Final Thoughts

It was nice to finally get to announce a game again after a little over a month off, and I got a thriller to boot. This marks North Central's 12th win in their last 13 games against Wheaton (and the one Thunder win required Aston Francis to do Aston Francis things). It also guarantees that the streak of no CCIW team running the table stays intact (the last team to pull it off were the 1973 Augustana Vikings). This is a very strong conference this year, arguably the best in the country, and we'll probably see a champion no better than 12-4, maybe 13-3 by the time it's all said and done unless someone goes on an absolute tear.

It's way too early to even start considering regional rankings and at large chances, but I can't help it... and the Central is absolutely loaded. Matt Snyder, a prominent D3 prognosticator, currently has North Central 12th in the region with an okay strength of schedule (0.529). Obviously, there a lot more data points that will come with 12 regular season games to go, plus the CCIW Tournament, so the Cardinals still have a lot of room to improve. But after some struggles early in the season, we're starting to see this Cardinal team show a ton of resiliency and heart with a couple big conference wins over Elmhurst and now Wheaton.

North Central puts its six game win streak on the line as they continue the homestand on Wednesday, welcoming in Illinois Wesleyan, so not only is this a battle for first place in the CCIW... it's also NCC's third shot this season at The Belt^TM. Needless to say... I'm excited.

2019 CCIW Men's Basketball Tournament Preview

To be honest, this year's preview is coming a little late. Last year I did it on a Friday and things were fine, but last year the CCIW Tournament was only four teams. This year it's six, and quarterfinal games were played on Tuesday night.

On Tuesday, the home teams advanced to this weekend's festivities. That meant eliminations for fifth-seeded Carroll, who finally got to the CCIW Tournament after falling just short in prior years, and sixth-seeded Elmhurst, who couldn't live up to preseason expectations.

With the North Central women already eliminated, I'm not touching on the women's tournament, which is too bad, because Wheaton College is on my way home from work and I'd totally go see them play the Thunder in the late semi. But enough about that; let's get to the men's tourney.

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.

Game Notes: (MBK) Wheaton College @ North Central College (2/9/19)

Final Score
Wheaton 82, NCC 71

Game Summary
This one couldn't have started worse, as the Thunder (17-7, 10-5) went bombs away to open the game with a 16-6 run. But the Cardinals (18-5, 10-4) survived the initial flurry and managed to work their way back to a 19-all tie. The Cardinals built off that momentum and managed to avoid a later tie and build an eight point lead at 39-31 late in the half. Wheaton cut it to three late, but an Aaron Jones triple just before the buzzer made it 42-36 going into the break. The Cardinals seemed to be in control in the first few minutes, pushing the lead as high as nine a couple times, but the Thunder battled back to tie it at 52 about eight minutes in. The teams then traded leads for a bit, with the Cardinals hanging on to a 67-64 advantage with five and a half to play after a fast break layup. Then the Thunder went bombs away again, hitting three straight threes to make it a four point game, and with the Cardinals struggling offensively, got the dagger with just under two to play and it was over.

Key Players

• Aston Francis (WHE): 17-27 FG (10-19 3PT), 5-8 FT; 49 pts, 5 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl. This man is not human. Francis was red hot early, hitting four straight triples to open the game, including banking one in that kind of set the tone. Some of the early ones he was open on, but as the game went on, North Central was able to get a hand in his face on his releases. Even with that and him fading away... it just didn't matter. 49 is the most I've ever seen from an opposing player, and the second most I've ever seen in person. Good lord.
• Luke Peters (WHE): 3-9 FG (0-1 3PT), 4-7 FT; 10 pts, 8 reb (1 off), 6 ast. I could have gone with Luke Anthony (13 points on 5-8 shooting, including the dagger three), but Peters did all the little things in this one. He scored plenty, but also did a great job on the glass and found the open guy a ton. Five assists came in the first half; three to Francis, plus a fourth to him on the three that tied the game at 67.
• Matt Cappelletti (NCC): 6-12 FG (4-7 3PT), 4-4 FT; 20 pts, 8 reb. It was a pretty good night for Cap, as he was able to find his groove from the corners, especially early. 11 of Cap's points came in the first half, but he went just 1-3 from deep in the second and was held to nine points after intermission.

Key Stats

• NCC: 1 FG in final 5:30. This time frame came after Matt Cappelletti got a fast break layup to make it 67-64 North Central and force a timeout. At this point, Francis was in and out with four fouls, and the Cardinals just went cold. Some of it was good defense, but some of it was also the Cardinals getting in their own heads a little too much. With Francis on the verge of fouling out, they wanted to go at him, and did on numerous occasions. While there were a couple instances he could have been whistled for his fifth, he wasn't, and other times Cardinals drove on him hoping for a call instead of trying to go strong for a basket. The only field goal in this timespan was a jumper by Connor Raridon with the game out of reach.
• WHE: Outrebounded NCC 44-30. I debated about going with Wheaton's shooting percentages by players not named Aston Francis (11-33 from the field, 4-15 from deep), but his supporting cast hit shots when they needed to and did the more important things well... like rebound. Taking advantage of North Central's lack of a center, they dominated the glass, getting 10 offensive rebounds leading to 10 second chance points. North Central only got four offensive boards, but did get 10 second chance points out of it.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• @ IWU 79 (15-8, 8-6), ELM 76 (12-11, 7-7)
• Due to this game, both Wheaton and North Central are guaranteed a top four seed
• @ AUG 78 (22-2, 14-1), MIL 56 (10-12, 4-10)
• CAR 85 (8-15, 3-11), @ NPU 65 (4-19, 2-12)
• Bye: CRL (10-13, 6-8)

Final Thoughts

A week and a half ago, I was flying high following North Central pulling off the big upset of Augie. They've since come crashing down with back to back home losses to teams they beat on the road. This team, ranked third in the initial Central Region rankings, is going to plummet on Wednesday when the second batch comes out. NCC will have a 2-2 record against RRO's, but that's not going to be good enough I don't think to overcome the fact that they lost twice at home.

This one hurts. Wheaton traveled extremely well, with its own student section complete with the Little Brass Bell as they currently own it, and they erupted with every ridiculous Aston Francis make. I mean... there's nothing more North Central could have done. Francis was just ridiculous, and you have to tip your cap. They earned the win, and it's a big one. I will probably see Francis draining a fadeaway contested three in my nightmares tonight.

The Cardinals close their home schedule with a 9-3 record. It's good, to be sure, but the three they dropped were all disappointing. They close the regular season with a pair of road games: at Carthage on Wednesday and at Elmhurst next Saturday. North Central needs only a single win to lock up the #2 seed, but neither of these games are going to be easy. I'll touch on the full regional ranking implications on Wednesday when those get released, and after the Wednesday games I'll update the seeding scenarios for the CCIW Tournament.

Game Notes: (WBK) Wheaton College @ North Central College (2/9/19)

Final Score
Wheaton 68, NCC 59 (2OT)

Game Summary
This one started well, as the Thunder (20-4, 14-1) grabbed an early lead but weren't able to pull away as the Cardinals (7-16, 5-9) kept pace. Wheaton would only go up four in the first before the Cardinals closed the frame on a 6-0 run. North Central took a 20-16 lead before a Thunder 7-0 run flipped the script again, but then the Cardinals played maybe the best stretch of basketball I've seen from them all year, going on an absurd 16-0 run over the next five plus minutes, taking a 36-25 lead into the break. But the layoff hurt the Cardinals as they went ice cold, missing their first seven shots of the third quarter before finally getting a layup. But despite the cold spell, the Thunder couldn't really take advantage, only cutting the lead to six before said layup, and only managing to get within four by the end of the third quarter. The Thunder finally regrabbed the lead with 6:39 to play, but the Cardinals came back down and tied it the next trip down. Defenses buckled down the rest of the way, with the Thunder scoring on their next possession, but no further, and the Cardinals tied it with two and a half to go. The Cardinals had a chance to take the lead inside of a minute, but a horrific travel call gave the Thunder the ball. Yet the Thunder lost control, North Central recovered with just a couple seconds left, but weren't granted a timeout, giving us free basketball. The Thunder jumped out to a four point lead in the extra session, but the Cardinals weren't done, answering back with five straight to steal a lead, but a short lived one as the Thunder got it right back and pushed it to two with 19 seconds left. But Tyonne Howard hit a clutch basket with eight to play, and the Cardinals survived a couple close looks to force a second overtime. In the second one though, the Thunder enforced their will in the paint and finally pulled away to secure a conference championship.

Key Players

• Hannah Frazier (WHE): 8-22 FG (0-4 3PT), 7-8 FT; 23 pts, 12 reb (1 off), 8 ast, 2 blk, 3 stl. Now that's a stat line. Frazier is probably going to win the Most Outstanding Player award in the CCIW this year, and deservedly so. But the Cardinals did an outstanding job on her, holding her to a 4-15 line at one point before she finally took over late. Even with a struggling shooting night, she still found a way to make an impact.
• Jordan Myroth (WHE): 8-14 FG, 2-4 FT; 18 pts, 11 reb (5 off), 6 ast, 2 blk. Myroth had a ridiculous night as well. She drove baseline a bunch, often times not even going up, but she made shots when she needed to and did a great job finding the open teammate.
• Lyndsay Brennan (NCC): 7-15 FG (1-1 3PT), 0-2 FT; 15 pts, 12 reb (3 off), 3 stl. Brennan was probably the best player on the floor for the Cardinals tonight, but she did most of her damage in the first half, scoring 11 and struggling much of the rest of the way. She did a phenomenal job on the boards though amongst a very tall Wheaton lineup.

Key Stats

• NCC: 2-8 FT (25.0%). I have a lot to say about this topic, but hold that thought. This hurts; you can't shoot this poorly at the line against a team of this caliber. They will make you pay, and they did. The Cardinals didn't get to the line in the first half (again, hold that thought), went 0-4 in the second half, and split the remaining four in the extra sessions. Even one made free throw in the second half avoids all of this. Darn it all.
• WHE: 34 points in the paint. I'd almost argue this should have been higher. Wheaton had a distinct height advantage in this one, and couldn't entirely take advantage. North Central played outstanding defense considering for much of this game, but as time went on Wheaton just went into the post and took advantage of the size mismatch. Tip your cap.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• @ IWU 83 (19-4, 12-2), ELM 62 (9-14, 5-9)
• Illinois Wesleyan clinches the #2 seed in the CCIW Tournament
• @ AUG 62 (13-11, 7-8), MIL 53 (8-15, 4-10)
• Augustana clinches a CCIW Tournament berth
• CAR 63 (15-8, 9-5), @ NPU 51 (8-15, 4-10)
• Carthage clinches the #3 seed in the CCIW Tournament
• Bye: CRL (9-14, 4-10)

Final Thoughts

Okay, you held that thought from above about North Central and free throws? Here it comes. I hate to be that guy... but I think this was the worst officiated game I've ever seen. North Central was whistled for 21 fouls in this game. Considering it was in double overtime, and they were forced to foul late, not terrible. Wheaton, by contrast, was called for seven all game, and just five in regulation. They didn't commit a single foul the entire first quarter, and while I don't recall any specific plays where they missed something in that frame, that's a little alarming. But for that trend to continue throughout the entire game is alarming. Combine that with the aforementioned horrific travel call on Tyonne Howard late in regulation, plus the Cardinals not being granted a timeout in the waning seconds of regulation (though to be fair, it was loud) and you have, again, the worst officiated game I've ever seen. The Cardinals effectively played 5-on-8 all night. I hate to be the guy that makes this complaint, but I firmly believe it after tonight.

Now that said... horrific officiating wasn't the reason the Cardinals lost. They had chances; you can't shoot 24 percent in the second half against a top 25 team and expect to win. Wheaton, for what it's worth, didn't play particularly well tonight either, but they played well enough to lock up a conference title. It's their 21st straight win over North Central, spanning the entire decade. But this was a sign that the Cardinals have the pieces to hang with basically anyone. Whether a healthy Alanna Newsome would have made a difference, I don't know. But this is a game that will to some degree haunt me.

Things don't get any easier for North Central, as they round out their home schedule on Wednesday by welcoming in Illinois Wesleyan. The Cardinals only lost by 5 in Bloomington earlier in the year, then proceeded to rattle off four wins in five tries coming into tonight. They'll need to play with the kind of intensity they did tonight, but also hopefully a better shooting night.

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.

2018 CCIW Men's Basketball Tournament Preview

Tonight... the madness begins.

I suppose it has technically already begun; many conference tournaments around Division III are already well underway. But the CCIW, with just four teams surviving beyond the 25 game gauntlet, waits until the weekend to decide its automatic entrant into the NCAA Tournament. Enjoy this; it's the last time the top four are guaranteed entry into this contest.

I've only written about the ones North Central makes, so there's no writeup for the women's tournament being held down in Bloomington this weekend. I do, however, want to take a look at one taking place out west starting tonight.

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.

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.

Game Notes: (MBK) Wheaton College @ North Central College (1/13/18)

Final Score
NCC 75, Wheaton 66

Game Summary
This was a fantastic game. Alex Sorenson got the Cardinals (11-4, 5-2) off to the early 2-0 lead, but the Thunder (11-4, 5-2) answered with an 8-0 run to take early control of this one. About four minutes in, it was a 13-4 lead for the Thunder and they seemed poised to make it a laugher. But the Cardinals found their poise and hit some key shots to get back into it, finally tying the game at 28. It turned into a back and forth affair the rest of the half, ending with a tie at 41. Wheaton took the early advantage in the second half, escaping a 43-all tie to take a four point lead, but the Cardinals fought back to trade a couple leads before Wheaton took another four point edge with 8:06 left. Over the next six minutes, the Cardinals embarked on a 10-0 run to take a six point lead and force a timeout, then scored six of the next seven over the next couple minutes to end the contest.

Key Stats

• Alex Sorenson (NCC): 9-15 FG (1-2 3PT); 19 pts, 10 reb (4 off), 2 ast, 3 blk, 1 stl. After having three straight monster performances at home, Alex has come back down to earth the last few games. He was still a key part of this win, notching nine points and four boards in the first half, while not having to worry about foul trouble. He then was a key part of North Central's offense in the second half, scoring the basket that gave North Central the lead for good, then added the insurance bucket for good measure. He also played phenomenal defense, and again, didn't have to worry about playing conservatively, as he finished the night with just two fouls.
• Connor Raridon (NCC): 2-8 FG, 3-4 FT; 7 pts, 6 reb (1 off), 6 ast, 2 blk. Connor seems to have settled in this season primarily as the facilitator. He didn't have a particularly good night, having to work pretty hard to get into a good shooting position in the post, but he hit a key jumper that capped the 10-0 run and forced a Wheaton timeout with 2:20 to play. The fact that he keeps going in and getting rebounds, finding open players for baskets, and playing excellent defense just adds to his work.
• Aston Francis (WHE): 10-26 FG (8-18 3PT), 3-4 FT; 31 pts, 7 reb (1 off), 2 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl. Francis has been an absolute monster this season, and coming off a 40 point outing at Augustana on Wednesday, he was the player to watch tonight. He was hot early on, hitting a bunch of contested threes that really got Wheaton in the driver's seat in the first half. But the Cardinals kept getting bodies on him and made him work, as shown by the fact that he needed 26 shots to get his 31. Also a key factor: Francis had six turnovers in this one.

Mike Schauer Watch

The Wheaton head coach is getting his own mini feature this season because he's one of the more fiery in-game coaches in the CCIW (though nowhere near the top of the list). Last year he demanded an out of the box warning to get the refs to listen to him (he was granted said warning) and would later do his best Grey Giovanine impersonation complete with suit coat rip off regarding what probably should have been a shot clock violation. This year, he got upset with some of the foul calls. I can't totally blame him; North Central jumped out to a 10-2 advantage in fouls early in the first half before Wheaton got the benefit of six of the next seven foul calls. The anti-Wheaton trend carried over into the second half as the Cardinals got into the bonus fairly early. Again he complained about the clock, as supposedly it started way too early in the final minute. I didn't get a good enough look, but he made a major scene of it, yelling at the table about how "this happens every time we come here!"

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• @ AUG 66 (12-3, 4-2), CRL 62 (4-11, 0-6)
• IWU 76 (12-3, 5-1), @ NPU 75 (4-10, 1-5)
• @ CAR 63 (9-6, 4-2), ELM 57 (10-5, 3-3)
• Bye: Millikin (8-7, 1-5)

Final Thoughts

The atmosphere in this game was absolutely fantastic. Given the rivalry between the schools and the proximity, it's no surprise that Wheaton brought a ton of fans, including a very rowdy student section that really got into the game. Honestly, I think they outworked the North Central student section by quite the margin, with really only the band and the group of alums and former players sitting behind the table getting their shots in. But this was the kind of atmosphere that makes basketball a lot of fun. It was loud, which is awesome.

Big picture wise, this was a huge win. Wheaton has been the resurgent team in the conference this year and came into tonight in first place. They end the night in third with the tiebreaker, as Illinois Wesleyan survived a monster night from Colin Lake and North Park to grab first place. North Central settles into second with one more to go in the first round of the double round robin and a key head to head victory for the tiebreaker.

The Cardinals have the bye on Wednesday, and close out their non-conference schedule with Finlandia University on Tuesday. I won't be able to work that game, so there won't be a Game Notes post Tuesday night/Wednesday morning about the contest. I leave my seat and microphone in capable hands though, and I'll be back for the next home contest, which will be Wednesday the 24th against Millikin.

Game Notes: (WBK) Wheaton College @ North Central College (1/13/18)

Final Score
Wheaton 72, NCC 55

Game Summary
I was worried this game was going to end up a lot like last year's matchup, as the Thunder (11-4, 5-2) scored the game's first six points and seemed to be in total command. But the Cardinals (4-11, 2-4) bounced back and ended up tying the game at eight. Wheaton started to pull away again with the next eight points, but the Cardinals kept it around that margin, trailing 20-13 after one. The Cardinals scored the first four points of the second quarter to cut the lead to three a couple times, but went into a scoring drought for the final 5:43 of the half. The Thunder couldn't pull away though and took a 28-20 lead into the break. Wheaton got the lead into double digits almost immediately into the second half and began to pull away in the third as they got hot from the floor. They led by as many as 26 before settling in with a 55-31 lead after three. Midway through the fourth, the Cardinals went on a 13-3 run to bring the margin back to the mid-teens, and the Thunder couldn't push the lead back over 20, while the Cardinals ran out of steam.

Key Stats

• Wheaton: 27-66 FG (40.9%). I'm running the full game lines here, but I'm going to break this down by halves, because it really tells the tale. The Thunder shot 11-36 in the first half (a 30.6% clip), missing quite a few jumpers, which helped keep the Cardinals in the game. They went 16-30 (53.3%) in the second half and started hitting those jumpers. It was a bad three point shooting night (6-26, 23.1%), but they hit more than enough mid range jumpers to pull away.
• Jordan Myroth (WHE): 2-4 FG (0-1 3PT), 0-2 FT; 4 pts, 6 reb (3 off), 5 ast, 1 blk, 4 stl. I could have gone a number of directions with this one. Jennifer Berg had seven points and a game high 13 rebounds, Hannah Frazier scored a game high 15, and Maggie Dansdill added 12, but Myroth did all the little things really well in this one, filling the stat sheet in a number of categories. She earns the nod today.
• Lyndsay Brennan (NCC): 4-7 FG, 2-4 FT; 10 pts, 8 reb (1 off), 2 ast. Brennan had the best day offensively for the Cardinals, doing a decent job getting to the basket and getting a few layups to fall. On a night where Mayson Whipple didn't really have it as much (3-15 FG, including 2-8 from deep), Brennan needed to do a little more, and just didn't quite do enough. She had a pretty good game overall though.

North Central "System" Watch

• Wheaton Turnovers: 13. Wheaton always played very well against The System, and while the Cardinals don't run it traditionally anymore, they still use a lot of full court pressure, and unfortunately 13 turnovers isn't good enough. The Cardinals notched five steals, paced by two from Bekah Foley. For reference, North Central had 15 turnovers.
• NCC 3PT: 8-28 (28.6%). This is about par for the course for the Cardinals. I have to credit Wheaton for playing suffocating defense on the perimeter and limiting the damage, especially in the second half holding the Cardinals to 3-12 from outside.
• NCC FT: 9-14 (64.3%). North Central seems to be starting to figure out its free throw shooting. Part of it once again was getting its actual good shooters to the line, but they just plain shot a little better today. This should put them over 60 percent for the season.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• @ AUG 89 (10-5, 3-3), CRL 54 (5-10, 2-4)
• IWU 83 (13-2, 6-0), @ NPU 53 (8-7, 3-3)
• @ CAR 71 (10-5, 3-3), ELM 67 (8-8, 4-3) (OT) 
• Bye: Millikin (5-10, 0-6)

Final Thoughts
In past years, I've gotten really bummed after the inevitable losses to Wheaton. I feared the worst tonight. The worst didn't happen. Wheaton missed a bunch of its jumpers early, and that helped keep the Cardinals in the game. Unfortunately, and what wasn't really covered up above, was that the Cardinals missed a ton of layups in this one. By the third quarter Wheaton figured out the shooting backgrounds and started to hit their shots again, which enabled them to pull away. I really have to credit the Cardinals though for refusing to give up, making that late run to turn a laugher into something a little more reasonable. I can live with a 17 point loss to Wheaton, especially when the team gave their all.

This was an emotional night, as before the game we had a ceremony to honor the late Helen Muleya, who played for North Central from 2010 through 2012. I didn't really know Helen, but hearing about her passing last May broke my heart. Michelle Roof gave Helen's family her jersey from her time at NCC, which was a very moving moment. It was also alumni night, and it was good to see a lot of players I've gotten to know over the years.

Big picture, falling to 2-4 in the conference isn't great. But amazingly, the Cardinals are only a game out of a CCIW Tournament spot. It seems way too optimistic to still be talking this for North Central, but even though they've struggled this season they're starting to figure things out as we go along. They close out the first half of conference play at Augustana on Wednesday and at Elmhurst Saturday afternoon.

When "For Christ and His Kingdom" Goes Wrong

Those of you who are regular readers of Confessions of a Sportscaster know this, but I want to open with full disclosure: I'm a North Central alum (and guy who yells "THREEEEEEEEE!" a couple hundred times every winter), and I have no love for Wheaton. But stories like these transcend rivalries. I respect Wheaton College as an institution, and the college will be treated with the utmost respect that it deserves in this post.

That last sentence is hard to follow through on when you consider that the accusations facing five football players at the school could be true.

Yesterday I saw a news story pop up on my Facebook feed that felony charges were being filed against five Wheaton football players for a hazing incident back in March of 2016. The Tribune article I linked to there includes some details from the accuser about what exactly happened. As I understand the timeline to be, police got involved pretty much immediately and began an investigation. The college did too, and considering that got a third party involved, the allegations have some degree of merit.

Photo collage by Lou Foglia (Chicago Tribune)

D3 Football picked up the story as well, and the college issued a full statement last night, but something about this whole situation stinks. I don't think Mike Swider engaged in a coverup, and any parallels to the whole Penn State fiasco don't fit because the bar is way too high. It's clearly a bad situation though, even though we're still at a stage of "innocent until proven guilty." But if after 18 months DuPage County thinks it has a strong case for felony charges, I would imagine there's got to be something there.

The response so far from Wheaton is a little troubling though, and maybe that's why I feel like the situation stinks. Of the five accused players, three of them just played in Wheaton's win over Carthage this past Saturday. At this point, even with my advocation for due process, I'd argue that there's enough here that these players should not see the field this weekend or for the foreseeable future. I'm also an advocate that the welfare of students should not take priority over wins and losses, and keeping these players on the field given their status does the opposite.

I'm hopeful that through all of this, justice is served, the alleged victim finds closure, and that Wheaton College does the right thing.

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.