Nate Straughter
Aubrey Staton
70
North Central (IL) NCC 10-9,5-6 CCIW
73
Winner Millikin MIL-U 10-10,3-8 CCIW
North Central (IL) NCC
10-9,5-6 CCIW
70
Final
73
Millikin MIL-U
10-10,3-8 CCIW
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
North Central (IL) NCC 34 36 70
Millikin MIL-U 32 41 73

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Big Blue Men’s Basketball Downs North Central

The Millikin men's basketball team defeated North Central College 73-70 in an epic College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin battle at the Griswold Center in Decatur, Illinois on January 28.
 
The game had 14 lead changes and two ties. North Central lead 34-32 at halftime.
 
A Matt Helwig basketball gave the Cardinals a 64-53 lead with 5:47 left in the game.
Millikin then went on a 10-0 run to get back in the game. Freshman Nate Straughter started the run with a basket and then he pulled Millikin to within one at 64-63 with a three-pointer to end the run with 2:44 to go. Shea Cupples then went one for two at the line to push the lead back to two. Straughter hit another three-pointer with 2:33 to play to give the Big Blue the lead for good at 66-65. Straughter would add two more baskets to extend the Millikin advantage to 70-67 with 34 seconds remaining. A Demarcus Bond steal led to him converting two at the free throw line to make it 72-67. Ethan Helwig would connect for a three-pointer with eight seconds to play to make it 72-70. Straughter would cap off the scoring with a free throw to give the Big Blue its final margin of victory.
 
Straughter led Millikin with a career high 22 points with 14 coming in the second half. JT Welch added 12 for Millikin and Chase Travis had 10 points. Fraizer Ott had a team high nine rebounds and seven points. Bond finished with five points and seven rebounds.
 
Matt Helwig led North Central with 16 points followed by Mitch Lewis with 14 and Ethan Helwig with 13.
 
Millikin shot 50 percent (29-58) from the field and went 7-18 from three-point land. Millikin won the rebounding battle 34-28. North Central connected on 27-60 (45 percent) from the field and made 10-25 from beyond the arc.
 
Millikin improves to 10-10, 3-8 while North Central falls to 10-9, 5-6.
 
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