BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Elmhurst University men 's basketball team punched its ticket to the 2022 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship by capturing the CCIW Tournament Title with an 82-65 win over North Central College at Illinois Wesleyan University.

Elmhurst improved to 22-6 overall and secured the CCIW's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with the victory. Elmhurst will be making its seventh trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Bluejays advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the rest of the championship.
 
North Central (16-10) led 5-3 early in the contest, but Elmhurst scored the next seven to open a 10-5 lead. Leading 14-9, the Bluejays ripped off an 8-2 run to open a 22-11 lead with nine minutes left in the half. Leading 29-20 with 3:43, Elmhurst closed the half on a 9-0 run to open up a 38-20 lead at the half.
 
Elmhurst never led the Cardinals get back into the contest in the second half. The Bluejays led by as many as 24 points and North Central came no closer than a 14-point deficit in the second half. Elmhurst led for over 36 minutes of action while coasting to the 17-point victory.
 
Elmhurst shot 45.6 percent from the floor (26-of-57) including 46.2 percent (12-of-26) from downtown. The Bluejays dominated the Cardinals on the glass, outrebounding North Central 47-24 and scoring 22 second chance points off of 18 offensive rebounds.
 
Jake Rhode led Elmhurst with a game-high 23 points, shooting 5-of-10 from downtown while adding five assists in the win. Wesley Hooker added a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds while Dominic Genco came off the bench to score 11. Jay Militello scored seven while Ocean Johnson and Lavon Thomas added six points apiece. Johnson added seven rebounds while Thomas finished with four assists. Bryce Drews added six points and Jonathan Zapinski scored five points in the win.

Zapinski was also recognized as the winner of the CCIW's Elite 25 Award. Modeled after the NCAA's Elite 90 program, the CCIW Elite 25 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average (GPA) participating in the finals site for each of the CCIW's 25 championships. Zapinski maintains a 3.96 grade-point average. He's the first Elmhurst student-athlete to earn the Elite 25 Award since it began this past fall. 
 
North Central shot 38.9 percent (21-of-54) from the floor, including 34.9 percent (8-of-23) from downtown. Matt Helwig led the Cardinals with 20 points while Ethan Helwig scored 12.
 
The NCAA Tournament field will be announced on Monday, February 28 at 11:30 a.m. at ncaa.com.