Game Notes: (MBK) Alma College @ North Central College (11/24/18)

Final Score
NCC 87, Alma 67

Game Summary
The outcome of this one was never really in doubt as the Cardinals (3-0) jumped out to an early 4-0 lead. The Scots (0-3) did score the next six points to grab a lead, but it was short-lived and their only one of the game as a 12-0 Cardinal run put the game firmly in North Central's control. Alma did manage to keep it relatively close for much of the first half, pulling back within four a few times, but the Cardinals made it a 45-33 game going into intermission. The second half was more of the same as North Central pushed its lead into the 20's about seven minutes in and led by as many as 25 in the second half, before with just under three minutes to play Todd Raridon called off the dogs and put in the end of his bench.

Key Players

• Connor Raridon (NCC): 6-14 FG (1-1 3PT), 12-13 FT; 25 pts, 10 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk. After struggling from the field in the opener, Raridon has bounced back nicely with a good effort at Benedictine on Tuesday night followed by a dominant first half in this one. He got to the line ten times in the first half alone and hit a number of fallaways as Alma had no answer for him defensively. The double-double was also a nice way to end the game.
• Matt Cappelletti (NCC): 7-12 FG (1-2 3PT), 3-4 FT; 18 pts, 6 reb (2 off), 1 ast. It was another nice night for Cap, this time as more of the complementary scorer to Raridon, but he had a phenomenal floor game, hitting both layups and jumpers in this one. He also got a nice tipin off a miss that I thought I saw him get, but our official scorer told me it was a Jack Bronec make. Apparently Cap was pointing at himself to try and get the credit, the Cardinal bench made those overtures as well, and we overrode it. Cap got credit for the basket in all official channels except over the PA, because by then the play was long over, and I did tell him after the game he got credit for it.
• Kevin Gamble (ALMA): 6-9 FG (0-2 3PT), 2-3 FT; 14 pts, 8 reb (1 off), 2 ast, 1 stl. The Scot big had a pretty good night, taking advantage of North Central occasionally going small to find easy baskets. He missed his pair of three point attempts, and I'm not sure why he took either of them. To be fair to him though, he's a career 34.5 percent shooter from beyond the arc, but it wasn't Alma's night. See more below.

Key Stats

• NCC: 22-27 FT (81.5%). Fouls were abundant in the first half, with each team getting whistled for a dozen. North Central made the most of this on their end, as many of Alma's first half fouls came on shot attempts, and the Cardinals made them pay, hitting 14 of 17 to help build that 12 point lead.
• Alma: 4-20 3PT (20%). Alma is a team built around shooting. Two years ago they hit over 40 percent of their attempts as a team, with last year's numbers falling to about 36 percent. Through their first two games this season they were just below that mark, but tonight will drop their season average by a fairly significant margin. Their two highest volume shooters, Kyle Woodruff and Cole Kleiver, were a combined 2-10 from deep, while Kyle Stevens, who was red hot to start the year, heaved only one try from deep, missing it. The Scots hitting closer to their average would have made the game closer, but I don't think it would have impacted the outcome.

Final Thoughts

Fouls played a fairly significant role in this one, but the Cardinals took advantage early to build that lead and never relinquished it. To be fair, both teams adjusted well in the second half and the fouls were not as prevalent. Regardless, this was a good win for North Central, who has started the year 3-0, a good beginning for a group that lost two of its best players to graduation. The Cardinals next have a tough road trip (in the travel sense) to Finlandia on Tuesday, returning the home and home favor from last year against a team that wasn't very good. That will be the final tuneup before we kick off CCIW play a week from tonight as Millikin comes to town.