Benedictine clinches share of division

For the second year in a row, the Benedictine men’s basketball team is sitting atop the Northern Athletics Conference South Division at the end of the regular season.

David Bernard scored 14 points — none bigger than his putback as time expired — and Benedictine clipped rival Aurora 65-64 in Aurora Tuesday night. The win gave the Eagles a share of the NAC South Division title and a shot at the top seed in the NAC Tournament.

“Big rivalry game,” Benedictine coach Keith Bunkenburg said. “They’re always intense. ... Lots of fans, lots of screaming.”

Benedictine (12-12, 10-6) led the wild back-and-forth affair 36-33 at halftime, but Aurora surged out of the break to take a 38-36 advantage early in the second half.

Neither team forged more than a two-point advantage until a 3-pointer gave Aurora a 56-52 lead with 5:39 to play. The Eagles took the lead back with 1:26 to play on a layup by senior Nate Green but trailed after Esteban Vega hit a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left.

Green finished with a game-high 21 points but missed a jumper with eight seconds to play that was rebounded by Benedictine junior Mark Pace. Pace’s putback attempt missed, too, before Bernard grabbed the loose ball and finished.

“Another unbelievable game,” Bunkenburg said.

Benedictine’s South Division crown is its second in a row. The Eagles won the 2010-11 title outright, but Bunkenburg said this season’s triumph — shared with Concordia (Ill.), which beat Rockford 71-59 Tuesday — might be even more satisfying.

“Last year we were expected to do it,” Bunkenberg said. “This year we got off to a horrendous start.

“To be where we are now ... it’s incredible.”

Benedictine owns the tiebreaker over Concordia (Ill.), so the Eagles will travel to play North Division champion Concordia (Wis.) for the top seed in the NAC Tournament on Saturday.

Concordia is 19-5 with a 14-2 mark in region play and is second in the conference in scoring at 77.9 points a game. Benedictine is seventh at 66.2, though the Eagles did win 66-65 at home when the teams met Dec. 3.

“They, offensively, are just really good,” Bunkenburg said. “If we keep it in the 60s, we’ve got a good chance. In the 80s? Not so much.”

The NAC Tournament starts Feb. 20.

North Central: Aaron Tiknis had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, and the North Central men#146;s basketball team clinched a share of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin title with a 75-49 road win over North Park on Tuesday.North Central (17-7, 11-2 CCIW) scored the first five points and never trailed. This marks the second time in program history that the Cardinals have won back-to-back CCIW regular-season championships.North Central plays Millikin in Naperville on Saturday with a chance to earn its first outright CCIW title since 1990.In other CCIW action Tuesday, Elmhurst beat Carthage 84-71 and Illinois Wesleyan dominated Millikin 84-45.Wheaton (18-5, 9-3) had the night off but will play North Park (6-18, 2-11) at home Saturday. With the four CCIW Tournament spots already decided, the Thunder is looking to polish its resume for a shot at the Division III NCAA Tournament.#147;North Park is a very dangerous team,#148; coach Mike Schauer said. #147;They have quite a bit of talent in a lot of places.#148;Benedictine:Benedictine#146;s women#146;s softball team won 37 games last season and advanced to the NCAA Division III Championship for the first time since 2002. The NAC coaches think the Eagles #8212; who have won at least 30 games the past three seasons #8212; are a good bet to replicate that success.Benedictine was named the favorite to win the NAC title this season by a coaches poll released Tuesday. The Eagles received 10 of the 13 possible first-place votes and 166 total points. Aurora was picked second with 156 points and two first-place votes.The only other team to earn a first-place vote was Concordia (Wis.), tabbed third with 145 points.Benedictine went 37-8 and 22-2 in the NAC last year, winning the NAC title #8212; the 14th in school history #8212; to snap Aurora#146;s four-championship streak.Elmhurst: The Elmhurst women#146;s basketball team is on the brink of missing the CCIW Tournament after dropping its third consecutive game.The Bluejays dropped a 68-57 road decision to Augustana Saturday, continuing a slide that has seen them lose five of seven games to settle into a tie for fourth in the conference with Millikin (15-8, 7-5 CCIW). Elmhurst (16-7, 7-5) hasn#146;t won since it edged North Central 63-60 on Feb. 1.Life doesn#146;t get much easier for the Bluejays, who will close the regular season against Carthage (17-6, 8-4) Wednesday and Illinois Wesleyan (18-5, 11-1) Saturday.Elmhurst will need a win in one of those games to make the CCIW Tournament.