North Central led early in the contest at an 11-6 Cardinal advantage with 15:00 left in the first half. Wheaton would go on to score the next 12 points of the game to take an 18-11 lead with 11:20 left in the opening half and from that point the hosts were in control of the game. Wheaton led at halftime 38-27 and held its biggest advantage of the game at 71-48 with 9:25 to play in the game.
Center Joel Kolmodin, forward Martin Trimiew and guard Jon Nielson each scored 20 or more points in tonight’s game for the Thunder. Kolmodin scored 24 points with eight rebounds and three steals. Trimiew added 23 points on 6-10 shooting from the field and an 11-12 effort from the free throw line, in addition to five rebounds. Nielson scored 20 points and dished out six assists. Senior Will Landry scored eight points on 4-6 shooting from the field with six rebounds and two blocked shots.
The stellar scoring efforts by Kolmodin, Trimiew and Nielson marked the first time in 137 games that three Wheaton players scored 20 or more points in the same game. The last time the feat was accomplished was when Rob Hamann scored 29, Charles Ridley had 25 and Michael Collins netted 23 points in a 95-85 win at Warner Pacific on Jan. 5, 1999.
Freshman Anthony Simmons led North Central with 15 points and six rebounds. Jawaan Stallings scored 12 points with three field goals from behind the three-point arc and David Johnson added 12 points, with a pair of three-pointers.
Wheaton shot 52% (26-50) from the field, with 27.3% (3-11) from three-point range and 83.3% (30-36) from the free throw line. North Central shot a 40.6% (26-64) field goal percentage, with a 31.8% (7-22) effort from three-point range and 56% (14-25) from the free throw line. Wheaton out-rebounded North Central 38-35, with an 18-11 edge on the offensive glass.
North Central vs Wheaton 1/31/04 7:30 PM at King Arena - Wheaton, Ill. At King Arena - Wheaton, Ill. WHEATON 85, NORTH CENTRAL 73 NORTH CENTRAL (11-7 (4-4 CCIW)) Simmons, Anthony 7-13 1-1 15; Stallings, Jawaan 4-9 1-2 12; Johnson, David 4-7 2-2 12; Vicario, Ray 4-8 0-0 9; Wesley, Josh 2-2 4-7 8; Williams, Monte 2-6 1-2 5; Walton, Daniel 1-5 3-6 5; Flanigan, Patrick 1-9 2-4 5; Lambert, Kevin 1-3 0-0 2; Teising, Adam 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 26-64 14-25 73. WHEATON (16-2 (5-2 CCIW)) Kolmodin, Joel 7-11 10-12 24; Trimiew, Martin 6-10 11-12 23; Nielson, Jon 6-11 6-7 20; Landry, Will 4-6 0-0 8; Bollier, Tony 1-7 3-4 6; Trusty, Jeremiah 1-2 0-1 2; Lettinga, Andrew 1-2 0-0 2; Bennett, Luke 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-50 30-36 85. North Central................. 27 46 - 73 Wheaton....................... 38 47 - 85 3-point goals-North Central 7-22 (Stallings, Jawaan 3-6; Johnson, David 2-4; Vicario, Ray 1-5; Flanigan, Patrick 1-3; Teising, Adam 0-1; Walton, Daniel 0-1; Simmons, Anthony 0-2), Wheaton 3-11 (Nielson, Jon 2-5; Bollier, Tony 1-3; Lettinga, Andrew 0-1; Kolmodin, Joel 0-2). Fouled out--North Central-Teising, Adam, Wheaton-Fortosis, Jim; Lettinga, Andrew. Rebounds-North Central 35 (Simmons, Anthony 6; Flanigan, Patrick 6), Wheaton 38 (Kolmodin, Joel 8). Assists-North Central 10 (Williams, Monte 3; Teising, Adam 3), Wheaton 14 (Nielson, Jon 6). Total fouls-North Central 25, Wheaton 24. A-1987