NAPERVILLE, Ill. – The Elmhurst men's basketball team moved one step closer to securing the CCIW's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by defeating top-seeded North Central College 71-60 in the semifinals of the 2020 CCIW Tournament.
 
Trailing by a point (32-31) at the half, Elmhurst outscored the Cardinals 40-28 in the second half to earn the 11-point victory. Elmhurst improved to 22-5 overall with the victory, matching the Bluejays' single-season record for wins in a season set during the 2000-01 and 2015-16 seasons. The win was also the Bluejays' first road win in Naperville since the 2014-15 season.
 
The lead changed hands eight times in the tightly-contested opening half. Neither squad led by more than six points in the game's first 20 minutes. Elmhurst trailed 25-19 with 7:30 left to play, but an 10-0 run fueled by back-to-back three-pointers from Jay Militello and Jake Rhode put Elmhurst in front 29-25 with five minutes left. North Central closed the half on a 7-2 run to move in front 32-31 at the break.
 
Elmhurst started the second half with a jumper from Lavon Thomas and a triple from Derek Dotlich to grab a 36-32 lead less than a minute into the action. The Bluejays would not trail for the remainder of the contest. North Central kept the game close for the next 10 minutes as the two squads traded baskets. The Cardinals closed to within a point (49-48) with 11 minutes remaining, but the Bluejays put the game out of reach with a 16-2 run over the next 6:30. Elmhurst opened up a 15-point cushion with just 4:40 left. North Central closed the deficit down to three points with 1:26 left, but the Cardinals came no closer as Elmhurst held on for the 11-point win.
 
Elmhurst shot only 37.1 percent (23-of-62) from the floor, including 37.5 percent (9-of-24) from three-point range. The Bluejays were solid from the free throw line, hitting 16-of-18 attempts (88.9 percent). North Central finished the contest hitting 36.7 percent (22-of-60) of its shots, buy just 28.0 percent (7-of-25) from downtown. The Cardinals were a perfect 9-of-9 from the foul line.
 
Jake Rhode poured in a team-leading 25 points while also pulling down seven rebounds to lead Elmhurst. Rhode shot 7-of-16 from the floor, including 4-of-8 from downtown. Derek Dotlich added 15 points for the Bluejays. Militello and Thomas added nine points apiece for the Bluejays. Thomas added a team-best nine rebounds and five assists in the win. Nine different players put points on the scoreboard for the Bluejays in the win.
 
Connor Raridon paced North Central in the loss, finishing with a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds while also dishing out six assists. Michael Pollack added 11 points while Blaise Meredith totaled nine points and nine rebounds.
 
With the victory, the Bluejays advanced to the CCIW Tournament finals for just the fourth time in school history and the first time since the 2015-16 season. Elmhurst will face third-seeded Illinois Wesleyan University tomorrow (February 29) at 7:00 p.m. at North Central College. The winner of the CCIW Tournament receives the league's automatic bid to the 2020 NCAA Division III Tournament.