ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – The Elmhurst men's basketball team secured its spot in the CCIW Tournament final by holding off second-seeded North Central 60-58.

Elmhurst, ranked 17th in the latest D3hoops.com poll, proved the third time is the charm as the Bluejays avenged a pair of regular season losses to the 11th-ranked Cardinals.

Elmhurst (21-6), led for over 30 minutes, but the Bluejays let a double-digit lead slip away late, before Will Nixon delivered a critical three-point play with less than a minute to lock up the victory for the Bluejays.Elmhurst was outshot by the Cardinals, but dominated the rebounding battle to help earn the victory. 
 

The Bluejays led for the majority of the first half, trailing only briefly at 6-4. With the score even at 18-18 with eight minutes remaining, the Bluejays used a 6-0 run sparked by four points from Nixon to take a 24-18 lead. The Cardinals closed to within two points, but back-to-back fast break layups, from Pat Coleman put the Bluejays back in front by six and forced North Central to burn a timeout.

A three-pointer from Peyton Wyatt with three minutes remaining gave Elmhurst a seven-point cushion and the Bluejays took their biggest lead of the half at eight after a free throw from Eric Leonard. North Central cut the deficit down to four with less than a minute, but a bucket from Will Nixon gave Elmhurst a 34-28 lead at the half.
Leading by only three early in the second half, the Bluejays ripped of a 13-3 run over the next four minutes, opening up a double-digit lead at 46-36 after Wyatt drained a three-pointer from the corner.

North Central (19-7) surged back using a 9-2 run over the next four minutes to pull to within three points with 8:30 remaining.  The Cardinals made it a one-point game with just over six minutes to play, but Wuest quick answered by splashing home a long-range three-pointer. After a North Central miss, Nixon hit a jump hook in the paint to put the Bluejays back up by six with just under five minutes left on the clock.

The Cardinals responded with a 7-0 run, taking their first lead of the game since the opening minutes of the first half with a three-point play by Kevin Honn. The Bluejays reclaimed the lead with a layup from Wuest layup, but a Jagger Anderson layup put the Cardinals back in front 58-57 with 1:13 left.

Elmhurst took the lead for good with less than a minute to play, as Nixon hit a shot in the paint and was fouled in the process. Nixon hit the free throw to cap the three-point play, giving Elmhurst a 60-58 lead with just over 50 seconds left.

After both teams missed on their next possessions, the Cardinals had one more chance, but Connor Raridon missed a three-pointer from the corner, giving Elmhurst the 60-58 win.

North Central outshot Elmhurst 47.9 percent (23-of-48) to 39.0 percent (23-of-59), but the Bluejays' controlled the glass, outrebounding the Cardinals 38-21. Both teams struggled from long-distance as each team shot just 21.4 percent (3-of-14) from three-point range. Elmhurst finished with a 17-7 edge on the offensive glass outscoring North Central 10-3 in second-chance points in the process.  

Nixon paced the Bluejays in the victory, scoring a game-high 16 points while shooting 6-of-13 from the floor. He added a team-best seven rebounds in the win. Wuest added 14 points in the win, shooting 6-of-15 from the floor and adding a pair of steals. Coleman also reached double digits in scoring, netting 10 points while shooting 4-of-6 from the field. Erik Crittenden and Wyatt added six points apiece for the Bluejays in the win.

Alex Sorenson led the Cardinals in the loss, scoring a team-leading 15 points to go with a game-high eight rebounds. Sorenson shot 6-of-10 from the floor and also blocked four shots. Raridon finished with 11 points while Honn totaled 10 for the Cardinals.

Elmhurst will face the winner of the Augustana/Illinois Wesleyan game tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. The winner will earn the CCIW's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.