North Central defends No. 4 ranking
In its first game since moving up one notch in the rankings to the No. 4 spot, the North Central men’s basketball team ran into an unexpected fight Tuesday night against Wisconsin-Platteville.
The still undefeated Cardinals held on and won the home game 73-64, but they did it without their leading scorer, Landon Gamble, for much of the game. The junior found himself in early foul trouble, posting only 4 points and 7 rebounds.
Stepping up in his place, and taking the title of the team’s top scorer on the season, was senior Derek Raridon. With a team-high 20 points, Raridon took over the game for the Cardinals in the second half, stretching out the team’s 3-point halftime lead. While North Central never gave up the lead, it was far from in control. After pulling out to a double-digit lead, UW-Platteville stormed back in the late minutes of the game, coming within 10 points with just a minute to go in the game.
The Cardinals have a game with Benedictine on Saturday in Lisle. Following Saturday’s game, the team will head west to Las Vegas for two games in the D3Hoops.com Classic.
Wheaton: Following an emotional week that saw him hit a game-winning shot at the buzzer to upset No. 6 Washington (Mo.), Tyler Peters has been named the CCIW player of the week.In addition to his last-second shot, Peters posted a double-double for the second consecutive game. The first of the week came in a victory over Westminster (Mo.). This is the second time this season that the junior guard has been given the weekly award. Averaging 19.5 points a game, Peters not only leads the Thunder but is tied for the scoring lead in the CCIW.Benedictine: After a slow start to the season that saw the Benedictine women#146;s basketball team lose its first five games, the Eagles have now reeled off four straight victories to come within a game of .500 on the season.The team seamed to hit its stride after starting conference play, winning all but one of their games within the Northern Athletic Conference. Benedictine has a week off following its last victory Saturday, not playing again until it faces off against Wheaton College on Dec. 15.