NCC 61, NPU 60
Game Summary
The Vikings (4-16, 1-11) crashed an emotional Senior Night party with an early barrage from beyond the arc, leading 9-2 less than five minutes in. Just two minutes later the deficit was double digits, and the Cardinals (16-5, 9-3) just couldn't get anything going offensively. North Park eventually opened up a 24-8 lead ten minutes in and had silenced Gregory Arena. Then the Cardinals woke up a bit, sandwiching a North Park layup with back to back threes to inject a little life in the building. The Vikings kept their advantage at a decent clip, still leading by double digits with 4:35 to go, but the Cardinals closed the half on a 9-0 run from that point, capped by a Blaise Meredith layup with four seconds to go. The Cardinals grabbed a 31-30 lead immediately to start the second half, but the Vikings answered immediately and regained control with a 5-0 mini run, though the Cardinals would not go away, eventually retying the game at 45. The teams traded some one possession leads from there before the Vikings made their run: a 9-0 stretch that spanned nearly five minutes had the Cardinals on the ropes, but North Central immediately answered with a Tommy Koth three. Alex Sorenson added a pair of free throws a minute later, and Connor Raridon tied the game again with a jumper with about a minute and a half left. The teams dug in for a close finish, with North Park's Colin Lake picking Sorenson's pocket with a minute left, then setting up Billy Kirby for the go-ahead layup with about 40 seconds left. On North Central's ensuing possession, they went to their two best guys, with the Vikings inexplicably leaving Alex Sorenson wide open from the top of the key, and he made them pay by burying a three with 27 seconds left. Out of timeouts and with the gym rocking so loud the officials didn't hear North Central's request for one, the Vikings went to Colin Lake on the final possession. He missed an eight foot teardrop, somehow got his own rebound, missed the putback, and saw a loose ball that was almost certainly out of bounds off North Park trickle out to Jack Gurvey who put up a prayer from 15 that hit off the back of the iron and triggered a roar as the Cardinals escaped with the win.
Key Stats
- Alex Sorenson (NCC): 6-13 FG (2-2 3PT), 7-12 FT; 21 pts, 7 reb (3 off), 4 ast, 1 stl. One of the seniors being honored last night, Alex struggled a little bit early in this one. The Cardinals had a hard time finding openings to get entry passes to him in the post. When he did get the ball down low, he got fouled multiple times and struggled at the line in the first half (just 2-6). He made up for it in the second half though by getting some open looks, settling in at the line, and even hitting a three to help keep the Cardinals in it. On his heroic three, Alex had received the ball in the high post, handed the ball to Connor Raridon, who tried to back into that same high post while Alex drifted out, and Connor dished it out to a wide open Sorenson who made the Vikings pay. After the final buzzer, he leapt close to the Cardinal bench in what looked like celebration but described as relief for escaping with a win.
- Tommy Koth (NCC): 4-7 FG (2-3 3PT), 1-2 FT; 11 pts, 2 reb (2 off). Earlier this week, Erwin Henry suffered a season-ending injury, a huge blow to this contending Cardinal team. It meant that roles were going to have to change and guys were going to have to step up. One of them is Koth, who pre-injury was North Central's ninth man and guy who would get a handful of minutes a night to spell the main rotation guys. He played 15 minutes last night and had arguably the best night of his career, hitting a couple huge threes, including one with the Cardinals down seven late. They don't need him to score 11 a night the rest of the way, but if he can chip in maybe six or seven while continuing to add excellent perimeter defense, they'll be in good shape.
- Colin Lake (NPU): 5-15 FG (2-6 3PT), 2-3 FT; 14 pts, 5 reb (1 off), 4 ast, 1 stl. With the graduation of Juwan Henry and sabbatical of All American Jordan Robinson, the 5'4" Lake is the best player on what has become a pretty dreadful North Park team. Lake has done basically all he can this year to keep the Vikings afloat, and did so last night, leading the team in scoring and coming up with that key steal from Sorenson in the final minute. I feel kind of bad for him after missing two fairly open looks on that fateful final possession, but he gave his all last night. I have to tip my cap.
- @ CRL 77 (8-12, 4-7), AUG 69 (16-5, 8-4)
- @ WHE 82 (14-6, 7-4), ELM 70 (11-10, 4-8)
- @ CAR 85 (12-8, 7-4), MIL 70 (10-11, 3-9)
- Bye: IWU (16-4, 9-2)
I was a little worried after the fact that I almost jinxed the Cardinals last night. Augie's road loss up in Waukesha was kind of shocking, and I'd made the comment that we'd be in second place by the end of the night. Early on in the game though it looked like we'd stay tied with Augie. So to say that the ending last night was a relief would be an understatement. Both Alex Sorenson and Todd Raridon expressed sentiments as such after the game.
Big picture wise, a Cardinal team that I'd written off for the top of the conference two weeks ago is now just half a game back of Illinois Wesleyan for first place. Augie is still clearly in the mix, but it's down to a two-team race for fourth between Carthage and Wheaton. It's going to make Wednesday's first set of regional rankings that much more interesting, and I'll have a writeup about it before Wednesday's big showdown.
Speaking of which, that showdown is against Augustana at home. Place your bets on Twitter at @northsider89 for the Grey Giovanine Jacket Watch, which I'll tweet out later. The Cardinals follow that with a bye on Saturday, one last home date with Carroll a week from Wednesday, then two tough road dates with Wheaton and Illinois Wesleyan. The latter may end up being the game that decides the site of the conference tournament. However, the focus for now is on Wednesday.
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