Quote from: Gregory Sager on February 14, 2026, 10:03:49 PMElmhurst goes into the hangar this evening and comes away with a 66-57 win at the expense of their fellow DuPage songbirds. The Bluejays collected 15 and 8 from Vinnie Adjahoungbeta, 15 as well from Luke Smith, and 13 from Sebastian Blachut, while Aidyn Boone did the dirty work with 13 boards and four steals. James Bullock had a whale of a game in the losing cause for North Central with 20 points, 13 rebounds, and five blocks, and Alejandro Diaz chipped in a dozen points, but the offense just wasn't there for the Cardinals, who were an anemic 35% from the field and 17% (3-18) from downtown.

In an otherwise generally anemic season for NCC, the highlight of last evening's clash may well have been a halftime ceremony honoring the 2005-2006 Cardinal squad who won the very first CCIW Conference Tournament championship defeating IWU 51-49 in a game played at Augustana.
Among those present were Ray Vicario, Adam Teising, Dean Prince, Adam Krumtinger, Dan Walton, Anthony Simmons, Josh Corso, and assistant coach Nate Riley.

Quote from: Green Beer on February 09, 2026, 10:32:50 AM

Quote from: GusD on February 09, 2026, 01:45:09 AMAfter a close first half, I was surprised how thoroughly IWU dismantled Elmhurst in the second stanza. Both coaches cleared the bench with 16 players for each team seeing action, including Alex Miller of the triumphant Titans who, while seeing just two minutes of garbage time, managed to earn a T.

It was funny (which is easy to say when your team is ahead), but he flubbed a stuff, hung on the rim like a monkey, and got the T. And then he got pissed off for getting the T.

Like a monkey you say. Well, if he hung like a monkey, perhaps then all the howling and squealing after the blown dunk is what prompted the ref to hit him with a T? 🤗

Quote from: GoPerry on February 07, 2026, 07:27:16 PMIn OT at King Arena:
North Central  81
Wheaton        74

Credit NCC for a gritty win, staying in the game and pulling out the win.  The Cardinals probably deserved one of these.

At the same time, they can thank Thunder stubbornness for continuing to shoot treys when it's just not happening.  Wheaton had 33 three point attempts and made a paltry 6 for 18%. I thought I was watching last year's team where often half their attempts were threes.  Teams have been happy to let them shoot the long ball where they have been pretty poor lately and their athleticism and size advantages are basically neutralized.

Possible solution! 🤔

During warmups prior to the NCC game Saturday afternoon the Thunder demonstrated a special fondness for attempting a frenzy of spectacular dunks. However they perhaps would have been better served if they had devoted more of the preliminary period to practicing additional shots from beyond the arc. Especially given the fact that they boinked a fair number of those dunk attempts high off the rim. Not exactly shots they were going to be attempting during game action. 🤗

Quote from: Gregory Sager on February 09, 2026, 10:53:30 AM

Quote from: GusD on February 09, 2026, 01:45:09 AMJames Bullock Jr., who tied for scoring honors with Ethan with 22 points, is rapidly rising to an All-Conference level of play.

It's far from certain that North Central is even going to get an All-CCIW player at all, given that the Cardinals are in last place -- but a good rule of thumb is that four wins in conference typically gets you a slot on the All-CCIW team if you're bringing up the rear in the standings.

Ale Diaz has been North Central's best player over the entire run of the season, but I agree that Bullock has been the top Card in league play, and league play is what the coaches look at when they create the All-CCIW team. His numbers against CCIW opponents are very borderline for a second-teamer, but if he sustains what he did in last week's 25 and 22 scoring performances and the Cards manage to win another game I can see him sneaking onto the All-CCIW second team.

While it would be nice, I didn't necessarily mean this year as different aspects of James' game are still evolving along with his need to consistently produce stellar performances. And, as you indicated, NCC may not have anyone named to the all conference team this season, depending on their final victory total. However, in the future, I wouldn't be surprised to see Dro (as we call him) Diaz and James both achieve All-Conference status.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on February 07, 2026, 07:36:31 PMWho had Sean Molloy on their bingo card as North Central's hexbreaker? He was the key element of a very efficient NCC offense in overtime, as the Cardinals finally threw their end-of-game jinx into the trash can with an 81-74 overtime win over Wheaton at King Arena. Molloy, who didn't even score for the first time until relatively late in the game, didn't do it single-handedly; he had plenty of help from Ethan Marlowe and Ale Diaz in the extra session. But Molloy was the guy who really took charge and put the pressure on Wheaton off the dribble, as the defense of the Schauerites, which had been pretty decent throughout regulation, failed them in overtime. NCC had to fight just to get to overtime, as it took a Molloy baby jumper with 14 ticks left just to force the bonus five minutes of play. Marlowe and James Bullock shared scoring honors for the visitors with 22 apiece, with Bullock just missing a double-double with nine boards, while Diaz finished with 19 and 8. For Wheaton, Soren Richardson had 22 to lead Wheaton, but it was the shots he didn't make -- he was 0-6 from beyond the arc, with some of those misses coming late in regulation and in OT -- that stood out. Kyan VanderWoude had 12 and 7 but was invisible late in the game, while Carson Grier played really well (aside from his 1-6 from the line) and finished with 11 and 7 and Devin Martin chipped in 10 points before fouling out.

In addition Sean Molloy's exploits cited above by Greg, he also had a very nice 7:2 A:TO Ratio. Ethan Marlowe played his best game of the year for the Cardinals. James Bullock Jr., who tied for scoring honors with Ethan with 22 points, is rapidly rising to an All-Conference level of play.

Quote from: iwu70 on February 07, 2026, 10:55:06 PMAt the Shirk on Senior night, really the story of IWU's big three:  Cleveland, Funk and Colak.

IWU pulling away fully in the second half, winning 91-69.  Just too much strength and paint scoring for EU to manage it all.  No answer for Cleveland, double team or no.

For EU:

Boone 14
Smith 12
Tuelenberg 9
Adjahoungbeta 9 and 12

EU at 42%/44% from three/ 63% from the line.

For IWU:

Cleveland 32
Funk 23 and 8, beautiful passing and excellent defense
Colak 21 and 7

IWU at 67% from the field/47% from three/ 59% from the FT Line.

IWU goes to 18-4, 10-3, with three games to go --Millikin, North Park and Augie, all on the road.

'70

After a close first half, I was surprised how thoroughly IWU dismantled Elmhurst in the second stanza. Both coaches cleared the bench with 16 players for each team seeing action, including Alex Miller of the triumphant Titans who, while seeing just two minutes of garbage time, managed to earn a T.

Quote from: iwu70 on February 06, 2026, 08:18:51 PMGusD, I take your points about Casen Lawrence.  It is a bit of pick your poison with IWU and Wheaton tried to stop Cleveland, aggressively and instantly doubling him whenever he touch the ball.  Most of the time, he was able to kick it out, leaving Lawrence and others open for 3 balls.  Two others made 3 treys, and several others made one.  It was not just Lawrence.  Hard to defend all of IWU's weapons.  I don't think doubling is the answer.  You have to hope that the IWU three shooters have a bad night.  Cleveland, as we have seen all year, will get his almost no matter, double team or no, usually a double/double, averaging over 18 ppg.  And 17 rebounds the other night!  I was down on Lawrence earlier in the year as his defense was sub-par, but to his credit he has improved greatly on the defensive end, and held one of Wheaton's top scorers pretty well on Wednesday night.  Rose has others off the bench that are better defensively (David Williams and now Connor Williams, both bigger) so he tries to help Lawrence out, but then you sacrifice all that deadly three point shooting with him off the floor.  Connor made 3 treys and David Williams one the other night.  Even Niego gets into the fun from time to time. 

It should be a good game vs. Elmhurst on Saturday -- IWU's Senior night. 

And I take your point about not doubling. It's definitely not the answer.

Quote from: mwunder on February 05, 2026, 03:21:56 PM

Quote from: Gregory Sager on February 05, 2026, 12:41:58 PMMoral of the story: Experience matters. The Firebirds have it, and they demonstrated it last night.

Other morals of the story.

Win games you're 'supposed to win'. (Experience helps)
Protect the home court.
Crash the Boards.
Take better shots or go to the rim. (1-13 from 3 in 2nd half, ouch)
Free throws are free points. 64% for the game.

AJ Johnson was $$$ last season from the FT line (90%), this season, he's at 72%.  Not sure how a shooter as good as he is, drops almost 20% over the course of a year.

Fun game to watch. NCC battled to stay in it throughout the contest.  Bullock played a heck of a game for the Cardinals.

James is rapidly becoming a force in the CCIW in his sophomore season. It wouldn't be at all surprising to see him eventually earn a spot on the All-Conference team.

Quote from: Stertorous Thunder on February 06, 2026, 04:10:34 PM

Quote from: lmitzel on February 04, 2026, 10:50:13 PMDoes anybody have a hookup for holy water or a shaman or something?

Anyone who pays even scant attention to CCIW basketball knows that North Central's won-loss record doesn't paint a particularly accurate picture of their ability.  I know it's of little consolation, but this year's CCIW cellar-dweller would handily beat every other conference last place team in the country, and probably have their benchers playing before the midpoint of the second half against most of them.

From up here in Wheaton I'm supposed to enjoy watching the struggles of my Naperville neighbor rivals, but I don't.  I sincerely hope those young men stay positive and motivated to put in the offseason work, knowing that once in a while, a string of bad luck will happen and that next year will likely be someone else's turn at the bottom.

They've taken almost every team to the limit. (beating the Titans as all know) Next year, they lose only one senior. They've going to be battling for lead in the CCIW.
[/quote]

I need to begin with the fact I'm biased, but I think Green Beer makes a valid point. I won't go into details, and it's not an excuse, but the Cardinals currently have 2 starters out and another who is limited. A couple others would probably say they haven't been as effective as they're capable of. Despite their misfortunes, they've been in all but about 2 games all year. They took the #2 team in the country to OT, and beat the #10 team. Take out the game where they were disemboweled by IWU, and they've lost all their other games by an average of only 5.6 ppg. Two of their losses were on the last play of the game. Yes, the current state is one of discouragement, but they've battled and remained competitive to the end of just about every game. With only one senior and hopefully a couple of good additions, there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel.

Quote from: GoPerry on February 04, 2026, 11:06:14 PM

Quote from: iwu70 on February 04, 2026, 10:41:49 PMIWU over Wheaton @Shirk, 82-71.  (Yes, a little more than 78 tonight).

Wheaton tried fiercely and aggressively to double Noah Cleveland tonight.  They got a few TOs out of it, but also a steady stream of open threes when he passed out of it . . . IWU making 17 treys, with Casen Lawrence having a feast with 8 for 12.

Casen Lawrence must be getting an untold multitude of open looks this season. Otherwise, even though he is a superlative 3 point shooter, there is no earthly explanation for his lofty three point shooting totals. Even though the quickest way to die in current day basketball is often to surrender a high number of successful shots from behind the arc, teams must be concentrating on trying to stop IWU's other weapons—- of which they have many which is why they're a top tier team. But while the Greenies can beat you in several ways, letting Mr. Lawrence hit 8 threes shouldn't be one of them. If a team realizes Casen, although a great three shooter, is really a one dimensional player, that's half the battle in stopping him. Shooting threes is basically all he does. This is evidenced by the fact that out of 163 shots he's taken so far this season, 151 of them have been from distance. Additionally, he's only 5'10, and doesn't seem to possess either great quickness or superior ball handling ability. Accordingly, I'd venture a large percentage of his shots are catch and shoot off open looks rather than being created off the dribble. Put a good defender on him and tell that defender never to leave him, and you're likely going to be able to severely curtail his effectiveness. NCC adhered to this strategy in both of their games vs IWU this season. In the first game (that NCC surprisingly won) he went 1 of 5 from three, and in the second he was 1 for 4.
Casen is currently the #4 three point percentage shooter in the CCIW. He is the conference leader in made three point shots per game. He is one of the most potent offensive weapons, probably in all of D3, and capable of inflicting quick death by many cuts. You need to stick to him like glue. If so, I think you can at least somewhat limit his effectiveness.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on February 01, 2026, 02:51:48 PM

Quote from: kenoshamark on February 01, 2026, 12:24:28 PMGreg,

I was looking at the box score from the game and noticed the attendance was 250.  Is that accurate?  Seems like this big event would have drawn a large crowd and rightfully so.

It was much larger than 250. That must've just been paid attendance, not counting the students, the various guests who were on hand for the induction ceremony and the luncheon afterwards (who were all comped at the door), the kids, etc. There were at least 800 people there.

Kudos to the Carthage fans present, who joined with everybody else in giving a rousing hand to all of the national-championship inductees who were introduced and honored at halftime. That was a great display of classiness on the part of the Carthage fan base, and they more than made up for that nasty woman wearing red (whom I'm certain is either the mother or the aunt of one of the Firebirds) who was loudly mocking NPU center Lazario Cornish as he was writhing on the floor in agony after being gashed above his left eye. That was easily the most classless thing I think I've ever heard from an adult parent or relative at a game.

But, as I said, I don't hold that against Carthage fans at all. Again, kudos to them all for joining in to recognize our beloved heroes in their final moment of adulation on the court where they excelled many years ago. I don't take that for granted, as I'm sure that there are plenty of fans out there who wouldn't do that for a rival school.

1. Even if the opposing team isn't your favorite, applause is appropriate when an injured opponent rises and departs the court. 👏

2. How exhilarating it must have been to be a four year member of the NPU basketball team beginning with the 1976-1977 season and winning the national championship in your sophomore, junior, and senior years! 🥇 🥇 🥇

Quote from: Gregory Sager on February 01, 2026, 10:52:13 AMFormer North Central head coach Benjy Taylor has learned that life in his current coaching situation can be even tougher than in the CCIW:

Seriously, this Morehouse rent-a-cop needs to go, tout suite.

After such an exemplary display of quick thinking and decisive action in an obviously dangerous and potentially volatile situation, that Morehouse rent-a-cop surely will quickly rise to the top of the ICE recruitment list! 🥷🏻

Can't make a layup 😉?
Talk about a specialist———Casen Lawrence of IWU has taken 147 shots so far this season. Of those 147 shots, 135 or 91.84% have come from three! Never heard of anything like that. Game planning vs the Green Team should include smearing some glue on the jersey of the guy assigned to guard him. That way, when he leaks to the corner, his defender (who should never leave him), will automatically go with him.

Quote from: iwu70 on January 30, 2026, 02:41:15 PMGusD, IWU had six road games in a row earlier in the season, mainly due I assume to IWU hosting the national D3 Volleyball tournament at Shirk in December.  IWU wraps up the season with three straight road games.  It could factor in to how well the Titans do in winning the regular season crown.  I think Carthage is obviously playing better at present.  Rebounding and poor FT shooting did them in against Carthage last Wednesday.  Ryan Johnson did play his best game of the year.

IWU'70

Yes, but I'm talking specifically about consecutive CCIW games. North Central is the only conference team that is lucky enough to have 4 conference road games in a row this season. They're undoubtedly the favorite team of the conference office staff 😏. 
You're right about the difficulty of playing the final 3 conference games on the road. And, concerning IWU's FT shooting, hasn't that historically been a point of concern for the team?

No matter what happens the rest of the way, North Central is assured ofleading the conference in at least one category. The Cardinals are the only team in the CCIW to have 4 conference road games (their next four games) in a row this season. How fortunate for them! Perhaps whoever does the conference scheduling became confused during what must be an arduous process. Certainly they didn't mean to intentionally provide NCC with such a competitive advantage 😏.