Rock Island, Ill. - A late push by the Thunder men's basketball team came up short on Friday night as Wheaton fell 94-87 against North Central in the CCIW Tournament Semifinals. With the victory, North Central advances to Saturday night's CCIW Tournament Championship against the winner of Augustana and Illinois Wesleyan. With the loss, the third-seeded Thunder drop to 19-8 on the season while the second-seeded Cardinals improve to 21-5 on the season. Wheaton will wait until Monday's NCAA Selection Show to find its postseason draw, with the show airing at noon on NCAA.com.
North Central's three-point shooting proved to be the difference as the Cardinals shot 52.2% (12-23) from beyond the arc and 49.2% (29-59) from the field. Wheaton shot 39.3% (11-28) from deep and 50.8% (30-59) from the field. North Central also won the rebounding battle 37-31 with an 11-7 edge in offensive boards.
Wheaton raced out to a pair of early leads, taking a quick 7-2 advantage before the Cardinals rallied to tie the game at seven apiece. Wheaton then went on a 10-2 run to take a 17-9 lead following
Spencer Peterson's lay-up with 13:59 remaining in the first half. North Central answered again, cutting the lead to 21-19 by the third media timeout and then tying the game at 24 with 8:53 to play in the first half. Neither team led by more than three points for the remainder of the half with Wheaton carrying a 44-42 lead into halftime following a pair of free throws by
Aston Francis with just over a minute remaining in the half.
Two early steals and a fast break lay-up by Francis pushed the lead to four points early in the second half but a big three-pointer by Tommy Koth cut Wheaton's lead back to one. After the Cardinals took the lead at 49-48,
Luke Anthony answered with a three-point play at the 17:23 mark to give Wheaton a 51-49 lead. Blaise Meredith and
Spencer Peterson traded three-pointers until a Matt Cappelletti basket tied the score at 54 at the first media timeout.
North Central pushed out to a four-point lead with 13:44 to play before a three-pointer by Francis and a steal and lay-up by
Nyameye Adom put Wheaton back on top 61-60 just under a minute later. Francis banked in a jumper after the second media timeout before North Central ran off six-straight points to take a 68-63 lead with 9:56 remaining.
Trailing 70-66,
Anajuwon Spencer hit a pair of three-pointers and capped a personal eight-point run with a dunk in transition that drew a North Central timeout with 7:09 remaining and Wheaton leading 74-72. Trailing 76-74, an 8-0 North Central run propelled the Cardinals back into the lead, which they would not relinquish, taking an 82-76 lead with 4:46 to play. Wheaton would close the lead down to two on a Francis three with 1:52 to play, but the Cardinals were able to score the next six points to close the game and finish off the 94-87 victory.
Aston Francis led all scores with 30 points including four three-pointers.
Luke Peters and
Luke Anthony each tallied 12 points with Peters adding six assists.
Anajuwon Spencer and
Spencer Peterson finished wtih 10 points. Matt Cappelletti led the Cardinals with 27 points and 10 rebounds and Connor Raridon added 21 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists. Blaise Meredith chipped in 19 points.
