Minneapolis, MN -- Tonight, North Central University (NCU) men's basketball competed in the semifinal round of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) DII National Championship as the #3 Rams drew a matchup with the #7 Campbellsville University Harrodsburg (CUH) Pioneers. Campbellsville came into this game after upsetting #2 Bob Jones University 84-70. NCU came into this one after defeating #6 Grace Christian University 83-75. Tonight, tempers flared and emotions heightened as the teams battled it out to secure the final championship game spot. The Rams got the gritty win 85-75 to advance to their first-ever NCCAA DII National Championship appearance.
The teams were hot from the jump as the Rams were able to jump out to an 11-9 lead after just 2 minutes gone in part to a 3-pointer from Carrington McNeal. Following that bucket, North Central strung together 8 straight unanswered points to take a 19-9 lead. On the fastbreak, McNeal took it coast to coast and completed the and-one to give his team a 24-17 lead with 10:30 to go. Tanner Holtman and McNeal then each scored 5 points in a row to increase their advantage to 15 points and force a CUH timeout. Out of the timeout, the Pioneers got a little something going as they scored 6 points to bring the game within single digits. North Central captains, Cameron Thomas and Tanner Holtman quickly added to the lead with a layup and a three-pointer, respectively. After the first 20 minutes, North Central led Campbellsville 45-32.
The second half started great for the Rams as Cameron Thomas recorded back-to-back blocks leading to a Tanner Holtman three on the other end. Remy Wedgeworth-Brown followed this up with a three-point strike of his own to increase the lead to 19 points. Nik Feller finally got on the board with a driving layup after an uncharacteristic silent first-half performance. After this, NCU went cold offensively missing the next 7 shots. As the Pioneers began to mount their comeback, frustration set in for the home team as the Rams recorded two technical fouls and CUH was able to cut the lead to nine. Carrington McNeal finally broke the 5:30 min. scoring drought with his third three-pointer of the game. a turnover by North Central gave away a breakaway high flying dunk for Campbellsville that the officials deemed a technical foul for hanging on the rim. This only gave the Pioneers more energy as they cut the lead to 6 at 60-54 with 7:45 to play. Feller went on a 5-0 run before Carmello McNeal drilled a mid-range jumper and his twin Carrington McNeal completed his second and-one of the contest. The teams traded buckets late before the Pioneers had to resort to fouling. North Central went on to win 85-75 to secure its first-ever NCCAA National Championship appearance!
Top Performers:
Looking Ahead:
The men will rematch the Crown College Polars in this year's National Championship game after suffering a loss in the regional championship. Tip-off is set for 6:00 PM at North Central University!
All fans are encouraged to tune into the official Rams Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter pages for updates on men's basketball and all things NCU Athletics.
