River Falls, WI -- Tonight, North Central University (NCU) men's basketball entered day two of the UWRF Radisson Holiday Classic as they faced off with the tournament hosts in the University of Wisconsin River Falls (UWRF) Falcons. River Falls would lead through most of the first half. The second half would be headlined by two massive scoring runs that ultimately led to the Falcons rebuilding their commanding lead from the first half. UWRF would take this one 79-68 to close out the Holiday Classic.
The Rams would jump out to the early 5-2 lead off a three and layup from Remy Wedgeworth Brown. The Falcons would answer back by scoring 11 unanswered points to go up 13-5. With 14 minutes to play in the first, Carmello McNeal scored 5 straight points to cut the deficit to just three. For the next 8 minutes of action, the teams would trade buckets back and forth, with neither team able to expand their lead. With the score 25-20 in River Fall's favor, the Falcons would go on a 10-2 run to open their biggest lead to this point at 35-22 with just under 3 minutes to go. Carrington McNeal would be the only other Ram to score with a three and a layup before both teams would be held scoreless the last 1:44 of the half. UWRF held a 38-27 lead heading into the break.
The second half kicked off with back-to-back three-pointers from the River Falls and the Ram's Cameron Thomas. The Falcons would continue their hot hand from deep to hit two more threes to push their lead to 20 points at 53-33. At this point, NCU would go on a 15-0 run starting with a strong take to the rim from sophomore Ja'Shon Simpson. Guard Carrington McNeal continued his strong first-half performance by scoring 8 points during the huge run. However, this is the closest North Central would be to taking the lead as River Falls would counter with a 14-point run of their own to take a commanding lead at 69-50 with 6:51 to play. UWRF would be able to hold their lead for the rest of this one as they defeated North Central 79-68 to close out 2023.
Top Performers:
Looking Ahead:
The men will return to action on Saturday, January 6th, as the Rams jump back into Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) play with a showdown against the University of Northwestern St. Paul. Tip-off is set for 2:45 pm.
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