Boxscore  --  Wheaton's CCIW Tournament site  --  Official CCIW Tournament website

Wheaton, Ill. – The top-seeded Wheaton College men's basketball team defeated fourth-seeded North Central 77-66 in front of a King Arena-record crowd of 2,537 on Friday night in a CCIW Tournament Semifinal. Wheaton will face #2-seed Elmhurst in the CCIW Tournament Championship Game on Saturday at 7:30 PM in King Arena. Elmhurst defeated third-seed Augustana 59-53 in the night's other semifinal. The winner of Saturday's Championship game will earn the CCIW's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Tickets for Saturday's game will go on sale in the entrance to King Arena at 6 PM on Saturday. The ticket price is $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for seniors, and students. Children under eight-years-old will be admitted for free. Students of CCIW institutions will be admitted for free with valid school identification. No CCIW parent passes or other free passes will be honored and fans must enter through the main doors of Wheaton's Sports and Recreation Complex. Live video of Saturday's game will be broadcast online at www.wetn.org, with live in-game statistics on the Wheaton Athletics Website.

North Central jumped out to an early led with a 13-4 advantage, with 14:50 remaining in the first half and the Cardinals' biggest lead of the game was a 10-point bulge at 28-18 with 8:41 left before halftime. North Central led 38-29 with 2:48 left in the first half when Kent Raymond scored 10 un-answered points to close out the half. The All-American's 10-0 run against the Cardinals gave Wheaton a 39-38 lead at halftime.

The two teams battled back-and-forth to open the second half as there were four ties and three lead changes. North Central led 57-55 with 6:28 left in the game, when Thunder freshman Jeremy Pflederer gave the hosts the lead for good with a three-pointer for a 58-57 Wheaton lead. Pflederer broke the game open with 4:24 left in the game and Wheaton leading 62-61 when he drained another three-pointer for a 65-61 Wheaton lead. On North Central's ensuing trip down the court, Pflederer swiped the ball and sprinted down the court for a layup to extend the Wheaton lead to 67-61. Wheaton was a perfect 8-for-8 at the free throw line in the final three minutes of the game to secure the victory.

Raymond led the Thunder with 36 points as he passed his own CCIW Tournament record with 12 field goals and tied his own tournament record, making five three-pointers. He was 12-for-21 on the night and 5-for-10 from three-point range. Pflederer scored 15 points off the bench, shooting 6-for-7 from the field, including 3-for-4 from behind the three-point arc. Senior Andy Wiele scored 10 points, grabbed a team-high six rebounds and distributed five assists.

Matt Rogers led North Central with 26 points and he added five rebounds. Chris Drennan scored 15 points, with six rebounds and Mark Adams added 12 points.

Wheaton shot 54.9% (28-51) from the field, including a stellar 61.5% (28-51) effort in the first half. The hosts set a new CCIW Tournament record for three-point field goals made and three-point percentage as the Thunder drained 10 threes, shooting 55.6% (10-18) from behind the arc. Wheaton made 78.6% (11-14) of its free throw attempts in the game. North Central shot 49% (25-51) from the field, with 35.7% (5-14) from three-point range and 64.7% (11-17) at the free throw line. Wheaton out-rebounded the Cardinals 31-24, with an 11-9 edge on the offensive glass.