North Central Box Score
NAPERVILLE, Ill. - The Elmhurst College men's basketball team, ranked 21st in the latest D3hoops.com poll, improved to 18-6 overall with a 74-63 victory over North Central College.
Elmhurst trailed only momentarily in the first half. The Bluejays opened up a 23-17 lead off a Zack Boyd 3-point play. A Ryan Burks 3-pointer gave Elmhurst a 32-25 lead with three minutes remaining in the half. North Central answered back, closing the half on an 8-2 run to pull to within one point (34-33) at halftime.
The two teams traded buckets and leads early in the second half. Elmhurst built a five-point lead early, but the Cardinals rallied and grabbed a 53-52 advantage with 10 minutes to play. Back-to-back buckets by Chris Childs gave Elmhurst a three-point advantage and the Bluejays never looked back. The Bluejays slowly began to build a lead, grabbing a 63-55 lead with 7:37 to play.
The Cardinals chipped the lead down to four points, but a Burks lay-up gave Elmhurst a 67-59 lead with 4:20 to play. The Cardinals trimmed the lead back down to five, but Childs delivered a trey with 2:30 to play to give Elmhurst a 71-63 lead. After Dustin Bainter hit a free throw Childs knocked down a pair of free throws to seal the 74-63 victory for the Bluejays.
Burks was on fire all night for the Bluejays, dropping in a game-high 28 points on 9-of-13 shooting. He hit 4-of-6 from beyond the arc and pulled down five rebounds in the win. Childs came off the bench to score 15 while Boyd and Brent Ruch totaled 10 points apiece. Ruch added two blocks to become the first player in Elmhurst history to record over 1,000 points, 600 rebounds, 100 steals, and 100 blocks.
North Central was led by Matt Rogers' 27 points on 10-of-20 shooting Chris Drennan added 17 points and seven rebounds for the Cardinals. Dean Prince totaled seven points in the loss.
Elmhurst finished the contest shooting 48.1 percent (26-of-54) from the floor, including 58.3 percent (7-of-12) from beyond the arc. North Central shot 49.0 percent (25-of-51) from the field, but only 14.3 percent (1-of-7) from downtown.
Elmhurst enjoyed a 33-25 edge on the glass. The Bluejays' bench outscored the Cardinals' reserve 25-5 on the night.
With the win, the Bluejays clinched their fourth straight CCIW Tournament appearance. The Bluejays could still win the CCIW title with a win over Carthage College on Saturday (February 21), coupled with a loss by Wheaton College. Tip-off against Carthage is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
