Game Notes: (MBK) Carroll University @ North Central College (2/14/18)

Final Score
Carroll 77, NCC 73 (OT)

Game Summary
This one started well enough for the Cardinals (16-7, 9-5), who put the clamps down defensively and opened an 8-0 lead on the Pioneers (10-13, 5-9) five minutes in. Carroll worked its way back in a little bit before the Cardinals started to pull away, making the lead double digits about 10 minutes in. After a Carroll timeout, Blaise Meredith forced an open court steal and dunked it home to make it 20-7 and seemingly putting the Cardinals in total control. North Central pushed the lead as high as 19 with a minute and a half to go, but Carroll closed the half on a 6-0 run to make it 40-27 at the break. After a Carroll three to open the second half, the Cardinals went on an 11-0 run to push the lead to 21 just three minutes into the second half. Then the bottom started to fall out. The Pioneers slowly chipped away at the lead, though the Cardinals still seemed to be in control, leading by 14 with about five and a half minutes to play. With just over three to go the Pioneers cut it to single digits, but even then the Cardinals still looked to be in pretty good shape, leading by six with just under a minute to play. But Troy Howat buried a three with 38 seconds left, the Cardinals blew a transition opportunity, and after a stop, Alex Sorenson came up empty at the free throw line, and Kale Maupin buried the tying three with eight seconds to go. Connor Raridon missed a desperation leaner at the buzzer, and the game went to overtime at 69-all. The Cardinals took a pair of two point leads in the extra session, but couldn't extend the advantages. Joel Heesch put the Pioneers ahead for good with 13 seconds left, Blaise Meredith rimmed out a go-ahead three on the ensuing possession, and Tanner Zaeske split four free throws to put it out of reach.

Key Stats

• Tanner Zaeske (CRL): 5-9 FG (3-5 3PT), 3-7 FT; 16 pts, 6 reb (1 off), 1 blk. Zaeske didn't have a great night at the line, but did enough in the extra session to put the game away. He did most of his damage early in the game though to keep the Pioneers from getting blown out of the gym.
• Troy Howat (CRL): 5-8 FG (4-5 3PT); 14 pts, 2 reb, 1 ast. Howat was a spark off the bench for the Pios, as he went 4-4 from beyond the arc in the second half, including the clutch one with 38 seconds left to cut North Central's lead to three. There weren't a lot of other stat-filling guys on Carroll's roster, but Howat was one of the clutch guys.
• Alex Sorenson (NCC): 9-15 FG (0-1 3PT), 3-10 FT; 21 pts, 8 reb (3 off), 3 ast, 4 blk. Sorenson had a quiet 21, stemming largely from the fact that he only had five points at the break. He broke out in the second half and was excellent on the defensive end before fouling out. The big problem is that glaring 3-10 mark at the line. Sorenson missed his final six free throw attempts of the night, including those two in the closing seconds of regulation that could have put the game out of reach.
• NCC: 11-22 FT (50.0%). The team itself gets a dishonorable mention, because this wasn't all Sorenson. Connor Raridon split a pair late that could have avoided the extra session and finished 4-7 for the night, and Mike Pollack proved he's human and split a pair. Sorenson's line is obviously the key problem, but it's far from the only one.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• @ WHE 85 (17-6, 10-4), CAR 77 (12-11, 7-7)
• Wheaton has clinched a CCIW Tournament berth
• Augustana has clinched a CCIW Tournament berth
• North Central has clinched a CCIW Tournament berth
• IWU 65 (18-5, 11-3), @ MIL 56 (11-13, 4-11)
• Illinois Wesleyan has clinched a CCIW Tournament berth
• @ ELM 77 (13-11, 6-9), NPU 63 (5-18, 1-13)
• BYE: Augustana (18-5, 10-4)
• WBK: @ CAR 92 (17-6, 10-4), NCC 56 (5-18, 3-11)

Final Thoughts

The reason I hold off on the Game Notes until the day after is twofold: I need to get to bed at a decent time, but also because I need to let the game sink in a little bit and not write this post in a fit of anger. Last night's game deserves peak rage: the Cardinals blew a 21 point lead, the largest blown lead in a game I've ever worked (beating out the legendary time UW-Eau Claire blew a 19 point lead). I'm trying to make that the focus of my rage, because the officiating last night was absolutely horrendous. The Pioneers took advantage of at least two North Central fouls on shot attempts that were either all ball or no contact whatsoever their opportunities at the free throw line to help get back in the game, combined with hot shooting while the Cardinals couldn't put the game away. Carroll earned this win, and and rage I take out on the bad officiating is just pathetic excuse making on my part trying to look for other reasons why the Cardinals couldn't pull this one out.

This also meant that two postgame announcements I was planning on making didn't get made, because the fact that you blew a 21 point lead to lose in overtime overshadows them. The Cardinals hit eight threes last night, bringing their season total to 211, which breaks the program record of 210 set just last year. And thanks to Wheaton's win over Carthage, the Cardinals clinched a CCIW Tournament berth despite the collapse. You can't celebrate a berth after a loss like that.

With the loss, the Cardinals sit in fourth place, a game behind Wheaton and two games out of first place. And with the Augie sweep of the Cardinals, I'm pretty sure hosting rights for the Cardinals in the CCIW Tournament are completely gone. They closed the 2017-18 season with a 9-3 record at home, which is nothing to be ashamed of. They won almost all of the games they were supposed to at Gregory Arena, last night being the only one they should have won but didn't. The other losses came to Illinois Wesleyan in heartbreaking fashion and last week to Augie. Those shouldn't overshadow some fantastic wins, including a buzzer beater over Benedictine, Alex Sorenson's clutch three and the ensuing chaos in the North Park win, and historic nights that saw Todd Raridon's 500th career win, Connor Raridon breaking both the single season and all time program records for assists, and Alex Sorenson singlehandedly destroying Robert Morris to break Bill Warden's longstanding single game scoring record.

Alas, the Cardinals end the season on the road with back to back tough games: they head to Wheaton on Saturday with the Thunder thinking revenge for earlier this season, and end the regular season on Tuesday at Illinois Wesleyan, where they may end up heading right back to a week from tomorrow for the CCIW Tournament.