“This is amazing,” said senior Adam Teising (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central). “This is the greatest feeling in the world. When we got here, the program was pretty low. But we were shown where it could be, and four years later all of that hard work has paid off.”
“It’s so sweet,” said fellow four-year guard Ray Vicario (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg). “As freshmen, our object was to get to the tournament. This is unbelievable. And to beat Illinois Wesleyan to get there makes it even sweeter.”
The Cardinals (22-5) find out their first-round matchup for the tourney Monday night. Pairings can be found at D3hooops.com.
North Central’s win broke the school record, but it didn’t come easy. Despite leading by 16 points at halftime and as many as 19 in the second half, the Cardinals went through nearly a 10-minute drought that allowed Illinois Wesleyan to come back and even take a 49-47 lead after two free throws by Cory Jones with 4:50 remaining. Dan Walton (Carol Stream, Ill./Glenbard North) answered with a jumper to tie it, and Adam Krumtinger (Towanda, Ill./Normal) put the Cards up two at 51-49 with one minute on the clock.
The Titans had a chance to tie or go ahead on their next possession, but Walton blocked a three-point attempt by Adam Dauksas. IWU got another chance after NCC turned the ball over with 12 ticks remaining. Zach Freeman was fouled with 00.3 seconds on the clock on a putback of his own miss inside. However, he missed his first attempt, forcing him to intentionally miss his second. The subsequent rebound bounced far, clinching the win for North Central.
Freeman finished with 17 points to lead Illinois Wesleyan. Cory Jones added 10. All-Americans Keelan Amelianovich and Dauksas were held to only nine and five points, respectively.
Anthony Simmons (Bolingbrook, Ill./Romeoville) led North Central with 24 points and eight rebounds. Walton finished with 13.
North Central got off to a torrid start, taking a 37-21 lead at halftime. The Cardinals shot 58 percent (15 of 26) from the field while holding the Titans to 31 percent (8 of 26). North Central also had nine first-half assists to IWUs one.
The Cardinals held a 20-13 lead midway through the first half after Simmons scored inside off a dish from Teising. The team rallied behind Simmons, who had 20 first-half points on 9 of 11 shooting. Krumtinger found the 6-foot-6 forward on a backdoor for a 27-15 lead at the 5:15 mark, and Vicario found him underneath with 18 seconds remaining for the 37-21 advantage.