Minneapolis, MN -- This evening, the North Central University (NCU) men's basketball team returned home to Clark-Danielson Gymnasium to host a matchup against the University of Wisconsin-Stout (UWS) Blue Devils. The Rams saw the Blue Devils last season, losing by a narrow margin at 78-75 in Menomonie, WI. Tonight, North Central found themselves ahead through much of the contest, but a late game push from the Blue Devils was enough to overcome the Rams' lead to give Stout the 69-65 win.
The Rams got off to a good start as they attacked the paint and found themselves at the free-throw line early. Stout fought back with a pair of three-pointers to take the lead at 10-7 after 5 minutes gone. Junior
Elijah Smith checked in and had an immediate impact off the bench, scoring a layup and dunk back-to-back for the Rams. North Central's backcourt of
Carrington McNeal,
Remy Wedgeworth-Brown, and
Malik Siggers began to take over midway through the first half, scoring 12 straight points for NCU to lead the Blue Devils 23-16. Whenever North Central would go on any sort of run, UW-Stout always seemed to have an answer as they brought the game to within a one-possession game with 3:30 to play in the first. An emphatic and-one play from Siggers and a three-point strike from McNeal to close out the half would give NCU a 42-34 lead.
To start the second, captain big-man
Cameron Thomas got to work with a beautiful post move in the paint to keep the Rams' momentum rolling.
Nik Feller followed that up with his signature mid-range jumper and later a deep ball that led to NCU's biggest lead of the night at 54-40. However, the Rams went on a 6-minute scoring drought that allowed the Blue Devils to cut it to just 5 points with 9 minutes to play. In desperate need of a bucket,
Carrington McNeal drove hard to the rack and threw down a rim-rocking right-handed slam to electrify Clark-Danielson Gymnasium. He continued to stay in a grove as he scored the Rams' next four points to keep them in contention with 4 minutes left. The final minutes were back and forth as North Central managed to stay within reach, but could not overcome UWS's lead late. Stout went on to win 69-65 to hand NCU its third non-conference defeat.
Top Performers:
Looking Ahead:
The Rams will face the UW-River Falls Falcons next Wednesday, December 11th. The matchup is scheduled to begin at 7:00 PM.
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