Travis, Chase
Aubrey Staton
62
Winner North Central (IL) NCC 6-11,4-4 CCIW
60
Millikin MIL-U 6-11,2-6 CCIW
Winner
North Central (IL) NCC
6-11,4-4 CCIW
62
Final
60
Millikin MIL-U
6-11,2-6 CCIW
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
North Central (IL) NCC 24 38 62
Millikin MIL-U 26 34 60

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Morgan Vogels

Men's Basketball Loses Nailbiter against North Central

The Big Blue men's basketball team matched up against the Cardinals of North Central College on Wednesday, January 17 at the Griswold Center in Decatur, Ill. In the tightly contested matchup, Millikin fell by a 60-62 margin in a game that saw 10 scores tied and had 13 lead changes.

Millikin held a 26-24 lead at the half. After falling behind 7-14, Millikin rallied with three consecutive layups by Walter Straughter, DeMarcus Bond, and Jacob Bullock to pull within one. After a North Central bucket by Ken Thomas, Chase Travis hit a three to knot the score at 16 apiece. After North Central pulled ahead by two, back to back buckets by Jaden McClain and Bond gave Millikin the two point halftime advantage.  

In the second half, North Central quickly climbed back on top to go up 28-31 on a basket by Terrance Moncrief in the paint. JT Welch tied the game with a three, then Welch gave Millikin a lead with another three made followed by three free throws to bring the Millikin lead to six. The Big Blue posted a seven point lead with 9:07 to go on a layup by McClain, but back to back threes by the Cardinals chopped the lead to one with 8:05 remaining.

A bucket and a foul with 1:32 left on the clock by Bond pushed the MU lead to 58-54, but the Cardinals had an answer with a made three pointer and foul by Ethan Helwig. NCC secured an offensive board on the foul's rebound, taking a one point advantage on two made free throws by Drew Gaston. Bond made another jumper to take a one point lead, then Gaston answered with a made jumper of his own. Moncrief made one free throw to give the Cardinals a two point lead. 

Millikin had the ball with seven seconds to go, missing a layup and two tip-ins in the paint before the ball got knocked out of bounds. With three seconds remaining an a chance to tie it on a sideline out of bounds play, Bond stepped out of bounds on his way in for a reverse layup to give the ball back to North Central with 0.2 seconds remaining. 

Welch was the leading scorer for the Big Blue with 16. Bond scored 15 and was the leading rebounder with seven. Millikin shot 43.1% from the field in the game, going 22-for-51 from the floor. 

The Cardinals were led by Tyler Swierczek with 18 points, going 3-for-4 from three point range. 

Millikin will travel to Elmhurst, Ill. on Saturday, January 20 for a matchup with the Bluejays of Elmhurst University, set for a 4:15 p.m. tipoff.
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