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.