North Central can't hang on to lead

The lead looked safe for North Central College against league-leader Augustana on Saturday night in Naperville.

Matt Rogers' field goal with 3:25 remaining extended the Cardinals' lead to 6, but it was not meant to be.

Sophomore guard Matt Pelton hit his only shot of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin game with 1:05 to play, and Augustana clinched the outright league title with its 63-59 men's basketball victory over the Cardinals.

The Pelton 3-pointer from the straight on gave Augustana (20-5, 11-3) its first lead since early in the second half, and the missed front end of a bonus free throw as well as an errant 3-pointer enabled the Vikings to escape.

Wheeling alum Alex Washington, who scored a game-high 17 points, then iced the game for Augustana with a breakaway layup in the waning seconds.

It was the fifth consecutive home loss for North Central (10-15, 4-10).

"I thought defensively we had a couple of meltdowns (late)," North Central coach Todd Raridon said. "We had them where we felt we were in position (to win). They stepped up and hit some big shots. That's why they're the conference champs."

Waubonsie Valley product Dominique King scored all 5 of his points in succession seven-plus minutes into the second half to give North Central a lead it would steadfastly maintain until the closing Augustana run.

Ironically, Neuqua Valley alum Mike Avallone did likewise for Augustana only moments earlier.

"We didn't do our job on defense (down the stretch)," King said. "It's a difficult loss for the (two) seniors. I wanted to win it for them on senior night."

Reid Barringer hit two of his five 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to start the second half for North Central, and the Cardinals built their lead to as many as 7.

But Washington was equally warm coming out of the intermission, and North Central failed to create lasting separation.

"(Washington) kept us in the game offensively," Augustana coach Grey Giovanine said.

After King scored 5 straight for North Central, Barringer, who led the Cardinals with 15 points, and Mitch Raridon connected on 3-pointers for the largest lead of the night at 51-43.

But Augustana closed out the game on a 20-8 run over the last 10 minutes; Brett Wessels' 6 points during the run for Augustana laid the foundation for the Pelton heroics.

"I thought late in the game we guarded well," Giovanine said. "(The Augustana players) rose up and competed on defense."

Raridon finished with 10 points for North Central.