ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn.– North Central University (NCU) hit the road for a matchup with Crown College on Saturday afternoon. After a Rams loss and a Storm win on Wednesday evening, Crown edged NCU for the final spot in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) postseason. The Rams had an opportunity to knock off their rival on Saturday afternoon, but were unable to overcome Crown's second chance points and their dynamic scoring duo. Timothy Wendel, the UMAC's all time scoring leader, and Gunnar Ledin combined for 59 of Crown's 90 points in the 13 point victory over the Rams.
Game Recap
Following a quick start out of the gate for Crown, the Rams found themselves in an early 13-2 hole just a few minutes into the contest. After taking the first few punches from Crown, NCU settled in and started to climb back. Crown continued to stay aggressive, but the Rams hung tough and cut the deficit to just 5 points as the two headed to the break.
North Central came out of halftime firing, cutting the deficit all the way down to 1, just a minute and a half into the period. Unfortuantley for the Rams, that would be the closest they came to taking the lead from the Strom.
Seth Fuqua and
Jalen Dunlap were consistent for the Rams all night long as their respective 24 and 20 points kept the Rams within striking distance for a majority of the contest. However, it was the duo of Ledin and Wendel that were too much to handle as Crown pulled away for the 90-77 victory on their home floor.
Key Performer(s)
Looking Ahead
The Rams head into their final week looking to steal two wins to finish their regular season. NCU first travels to Ashland, Wisconsin for a battle with Northland on Wednesday evening and then will finish their season with their senior and parent day on Saturday afternoon.
