Area Roundup: Feb. 9
FROM STAFF REPORTS February 9, 2013 7:00PM
Updated: February 9, 2013 10:14PM
A furious second-half comeback negated a subpar first half and extended a winning streak for the North Central College men’s basketball team on Saturday, as the Cardinals erased a double-digit deficit on the road and defeated Augustana College, 76-62, at the Carver Center in Rock Island.
The win is the fourth straight for the 11th-ranked Cardinals (20-3, 9-3 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin), who now have 20 wins for the second straight season and the fifth time in the program’s history. North Central also locked up a bid to the CCIW Tournament for the third straight year with the victory.
The Cardinals endured a first half full of miscues, as the visitors turned the ball over 12 times which led to 18 points in the opening 20 minutes. Augustana (16-7, 6-6 CCIW) shot 57.7 percent (15-26) from the floor in the first period and led by as many as 16 points before heading into halftime with a 37-24 advantage. North Central’s lone bright spot early on was the play of Aaron Tiknis, who put up 13 points on 4 of 7 shooting.
North Central came out firing as soon as play resumed in the second half, first getting three-pointers from Vince Kmiec on three straight possessions. The Vikings built their lead back up to 45-33 before a jumper by Derek Raridon, a putback by Tiknis, and a layup by Landon Gamble off a steal by Raridon narrowed the gap to 45-39 and prompted an Augustana timeout with 14:42 remaining.
The Vikings owned a 53-47 advantage when North Central opened what would be the decisive scoring run of the game, a 14-2 surge which gave the Cardinals their first lead since midway through the opening period. Gamble got the rally started with a three-point play, and Jack Merrithey and Jack Burchett each made a pair of free throws to nudge North Central in front.
Merrithey’s three-pointer with 3:37 to play stretched the Cardinals’ lead to 64-57. Augustana’s Ben Ryan knocked down a jumper and the Vikings’ Mark Roth launched a shot clock-beating three-pointer from the right wing which found the bottom of the net and cut North Central’s edge to 64-62 with 2:25 left.
Roth’s jumper, however, turned out to be Augustana’s final score. Tiknis converted a three-point play on the next trip down the floor, and Kmiec stole a pass out of the low post before Gamble sank another jumper to boost the guests’ lead back up to seven points at 69-62. The Cardinals then made 5 of 6 free throws in the final minute before a last-second layup by Kmiec.
North Central wound up outscoring the Vikings, 52-25, in the second half, including a 26-9 run over the final 8:18. The Cardinals shot 60 percent (15-25) from the floor and turned the ball over just twice after halftime, limiting the Vikings to a 7 for 19 shooting effort (36.8 percent).
COLLEGE TRACK AND FIELD
The North Central College men’s track and field team had little trouble defending its team title at the Chicagoland Indoor Championships on Saturday, more than tripling the score of its nearest competitors and easily topping the 20-team field at Al B. Carius Track.
The third-ranked Cardinals piled up 219.5 points, nearly a third of all the total available points in the meet and more than their next three competitors combined. The University of Illinois-Chicago was the closest pursuer with 72 points, while Carthage College was third with 67.5.
North Central won nine of the 17 contested events, three of which came from Dionte Hackler. The junior sprinter was the meet’s only three-event champion, winning the 200- (22.26 seconds) and 400-meter dashes (49.51) before teaming with Randal Ellison, Derek Nelson and Marlen Hamilton to win the 4-by-400-meter relay in 3:20.66.
Hamilton also won the 800-meter run (1:55.76), while Tim Vazquez prevailed in the 5,000-meter run (15:04.55). John Crain, meanwhile, led a dominant Cardinal performance in the mile run, as the hosts took the top six places. Crain crossed the line in 4:12.82, Matt Muth placed second in 4:18.02 and Aron Sebhat placed third in 4:18.65.
North Central also won three of the six field events, as Kyle Pembrook placed first in the high jump (6’7”), Josh Winder won the pole vault (16’1 1/4”) and Adam Weidner established a new Cardinal freshman record in winning the shot put (50’10 3/4”).
Other second-place finishes for the Cardinals came from Abraham Oshipitan in the 400 (50.47), David Janet in the 3,000 (8:37.89), Frank Wleklinski in the pole vault (15’7 1/4”), Matt Souvannasing in the long jump (22’7”) and the distance medley relay team of Juliano Lodi, Adam Spaccapaniccia, Ryan Bartell and Mitch Gilbert (10:15.56). Souvannasing also equaled the North Central varsity record in the 60-meter dash, placing fourth (7.03).
PARK DISTRICT GOLF
Reserved Tee Time Lottery — The Naperville Park District’s Springbrook and Naperbrook Golf Courses are planning the upcoming season’s Reserved Tee Time Lottery for resident golfers who wish to reserve weekend tee times from late April to September.
The 2013 Season Reserved Tee Time Lottery will be held on Sunday, Feb. 24 at noon at the Alfred Rubin Riverwalk Community Center, 305 W. Jackson Ave. At least one member of the foursome or an individual representing the foursome must be present at the drawing to select a tee time.
Each group must submit an application for their reserved tee times to Springbrook or Naperbrook Golf Course by 5 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 18. Applications are available online at www.springbrookgolfcourse.org or www.naperbrookgolfcourse and may be picked up at either course. Springbrook Golf Course is located at 2220 W. 83rd Street and Naperbrook Golf Course is located at 22204 W. 111th St.
Call Springbrook Golf Course at 630-848-5060 or Naperbrook Golf Course at 630-378-4215 for more information.
