MINNEAPOLIS-- Men's basketball left no doubt of their intentions on Friday. The Rams were out to earn a spot in Saturday's NCCAA Division II Region Championship game and they made sure that was a reality with a dominant 105-75 win over Faith Baptist Bible College.

North Central jumped out by double figures less than five minutes into the game and never trailed in the contest. After a three pointer by senior Josh High (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo) made it 33-22, with 6:40 left in the half, the Rams lead was never less than ten the final 26 minutes of action. 

KEY SEQUENCE OF THE GAME

Despite a hot start by North Central, Faith Baptist managed to keep a foot in the game until the final six minutes of the first half. During the last phase of the opening period North Central broke open an eight point game and mostly erased any doubt of the final outcome.

After Josh High hit his three point shot with 6:40 to play, NCU scored on eight of their next nine possessions to make it 51-28 with 2:35 to go in the half. The Eagles got a three pointer to break a two minute scoreless stretch but NCU went into the locker room up 55-31 and it would rarely be closer the rest of the game.

KEY PERFORMERS OF THE GAME

Junior Travis Voigt (Green Bay, Wis./N.E.W. Lutheran) scored a game high 30 points on an efficient 10-13 shooting including 6-9 from long distance. Sophomore Joel Cline (Green Bay, Wis./Southwest) was also a big factor with 20 points and 10 rebounds on 9-12 shooting. Senior Cody Martin (Burnsville, Minn./Burnsville) was excellent at the point with 13 points and 8 assists. Josh High posted 15 points with 8 steals, the second best single game for a Ram in program history.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• North Central blazed the nets shooting .586 (41-70) from the floor
• The Rams won on the glass by a 41-25 advantage
• NCU turned 11 steals into 24 points off turnovers
• North Central led by as many as 32 late in the game

UP NEXT

North Central will play for the NCCAA North Central Region Championship on Saturday. The Rams take on top seed Crossroads College (Rochester, Minn.) at 3 p.m. on Saturday.