North Central closes in on CCIW title
North Central College’s men’s basketball team is one win from its first College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championship in 21 years.
Aaron Tiknis scored a game-high 23 points, hitting four 3-pointers as the Cardinals seized control of the CCIW standings with an 80-73 win over Illinois Wesleyan in Bloomington, Ill., Tuesday. North Central shot 9 of 15 on 3-pointers — including 4 of 5 in the second half — to win its seventh game in a row.
More importantly, the Cardinals pushed their CCIW lead to two games over Wheaton, which lost to Carthage Tuesday. The Cardinals host the Thunder at 7:30 p.m. Saturday with a chance to clinch their first CCIW title since 1990.
North Central (16-6, 10-1) was red hot from the field Tuesday, shooting 57.4 percent overall and 60 percent on 3-pointers. The Cardinals shot 62.5 percent from the floor in the second half to thwart upset-minded Illinois Wesleyan (16-6, 7-4), which was looking to move into second place in the CCIW.
Tiknis was the Cardinals’ high scorer, but sophomore Landon Gamble added 16 points and junior Derek Raridon (Neuqua Valley) and sophomore CJ Goldthree scored 15 each.
In other CCIW action, Carthage (12-10, 6-5) did get its upset, holding off a furious Wheaton rally to win 69-67 in Kenosha, Wis.
The Reds led 63-51 with 4:08 to play, but a 13-2 run by the Thunder — highlighted by eight points from sophomore Tyler Peters — made it 65-64 with 16 seconds to play. After a pair of Carthage free throws, Wheaton senior Aaron Garriott hit a layup to make it 67-66 at the five-second mark.
That was as close as Wheaton (17-5, 8-3) — which entered the night ranked No. 19 in the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll — would get.
Also Tuesday, Elmhurst (11-11, 5-6) beat Millikin 71-61 and Augustana edged North Park 59-57.
North Central: Senior wrestler Andrew Zobac closed his regular season with a dominant 20-5 win over University of Chicago#146;s Jacob Smith at 141 pounds Saturday, earning CCIW wrestler of the week honors even as the Cardinals fell 25-16.The award, announced Tuesday, was Zobac#146;s second in as many weeks. The win pushed his record to 27-5 and gave him 101 career victories. He needs just four more wins to reach the top 10 in program history.#147;He#146;s been wrestling really well,#148; North Central coach Kevin Bratland said. #147;He#146;s wrestling at a high pace. ... He#146;s well-positioned. He#146;s strong.#148;North Central (5-10, 2-1) will travel to Rock Island, Ill., on Thursday for the start of the CCIW Championships. The Cardinals finished second at the conference meet last season, coming in just two points behind champion Elmhurst.Bratland named Elmhurst (12-4, 3-0) as the likely favorite again this year. Augustana and Wheaton round out a four-team field that Bratland said favors team depth over champions at individual weight classes.Zobac won the 141-pound conference title last season, and is ranked No. 6 in Division III this year. North Central junior Nathan Fitzenreider (Wheaton North) is ranked No. 1 at 125 pounds, and won the 133-pound CCIW championship a year ago. But both wrestlers will sit out the CCIW championships to tend to injuries with an eye toward the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Championships in Minneapolis on Feb. 25.#147;We want to win conference titles, but there is a bigger goal in the end,#148; Bratland said.Wheaton: Laura Karsten scored a game-high 20 points, Brooke Olson (Wheaton North) hit two breakaway layups late in overtime, and Wheaton beat Elmhurst 63-62 at home Saturday.Wheaton (14-7, 7-3) moved past a disappointing loss to Millikin Feb. 1, recovering after Elmhurst (16-5, 7-3) tied the game in the last 30 seconds of regulation. The Bluejays led 62-59 late in the overtime period before Karsten forced a steal #8212; one of seven for the junior guard #8212; and hit Olson for an easy layup. Sophomore Maris Hovee pulled the same trick on Elmhurst#146;s next possession, forcing a turnover and hitting Olson for the eventual winning margin.With less than three weeks left before the Feb. 24 start of the CCIW Tournament, Illinois Wesleyan (16-5, 9-1) sits comfortably atop the conference standings ahead of Carthage (17-4, 8-2). Elmhurst and Wheaton are deadlocked in third place, two games ahead of Millikin (13-8, 5-5).Wheaton faces a difficult road game against Carthage Thursday, but the Thunder can draw positive thoughts from their 66-51 home win over the Reds on Jan. 18. In that game #8212; Carthage#146;s last loss in conference play #8212; Wheaton forced 26 turnovers and shot 57 percent from 3-point range.The Thunder also travels to Naperville to play North Central Saturday as it tries to secure a spot in the four-team CCIW Tournament.Swimming: Wheaton#146;s Carl Sveen (Wheaton Warrenville South) and Amanda MacLurg were named the CCIW swimmers of the week Tuesday after strong performances against Illinois Wesleyan and North Central Saturday.Sveen won the 500-yard freestyle in 4:58.4. That time represented a new untapered best for the junior, who also broke his untapered best in the 200-yard individual medley, where he finished in 2:04.18 to take third place.MacLurg, a freshman, set personal bests in the 200 IM #8212; where she finished second in 2:17.69 #8212; and the 100-yard free.