Box Score
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Landon Gamble scored 18 second-half points and 22 total Wednesday night to lead North Central to a 66-59 win over Augustana at Carver Center. The loss, the Vikings' first at home this season, dropped the team to 15-4 overall and 5-3 in the CCIW. The Cardinals improve to 10-9 on the season and 3-5 in the league.
 
Vince Kmiec gave the visitors an early lead with a three-pointer on the first possession of the game. North Central trailed only once in the opening stanza, when a Tayvian Johnson (United Township HS, East Moline, Ill.) bucket at the 17:31 mark put Augustana up 6-5. A rebound dunk by Johnson with 12:32 left tied the contest at 12-all, but North Central answered with an 8-0 run to go up 20-12.
 
Hunter Hill (Byron HS, Byron, Ill.) scored five points, Kevin Schlitter (Maine South SH, Park Ridge, Ill.) and Jawan Straughter (Plainfield East HS, Bolingbrook, Ill.) four each and Johnson three as the Vikings chipped away at the deficit over the final seven and a half minutes of the half, eventually forging a 28-all deadlock at the break. Johnson scored 11 in the opening 20 minutes on five-of-five shooting from the field.
 
Augustana grabbed three brief leads early in the second half. A Hill three-pointer with 18:40 remaining put the Vikings up 31-30 and a pair of buckets by Johnson gave the hosts advantages of 33-32 and 35-34, but Gamble responded with seven straight points and the Cardinals wouldn't trail again.
 
A three-pointer by Pat Rourke with 8:54 left gave North Central a 50-39 lead, but Augustana answered with a 6-0 run to narrow the margin to five. On the next possession it looked like the Vikings might force a shot clock violation, but Kmiec launched a 28-footer from straight away just before the buzzer that found nothing but the bottom of the net and the Cardinals were back up 53-45.
 
North Central's lead reached its largest at 57-45 with four minutes remaining and the Cardinals still led 61-51 with 38 seconds left before Augustana made one final push. Three free throws by Griffin Pils (Libertyville HS, Libertyville, Ill.) after he was fouled beyond the arc, a five-second call against the Cardinals on the ensuing in-bounds play and a long three by Hill trimmed that 10-point deficit to four in a matter of one second. However, Rourke, Kmiec and Gamble combined to hit five of six free throws in the final 30 seconds to secure the win for North Central.
 
Hill shared game-high scoring honors with Gamble at 22 points. The sophomore guard hit six of 11 field goal attempts, including four of eight from three-point range, and all six of his free throw attempts. Johnson finished with 15 points on seven of 10 from the field and added three assists. Ben Ryan (Washington HS, Washington, Ill.) had a team-high seven rebounds.
 
Augustana shot .477 (21-44) from the floor, .412 (5-12) from three-point range and .923 (12-13) from the line, but surrendered .565 marksmanship (26-46) to the Cardinals. North Central also had a 25-21 edge on the glass and committed 11 turnovers to 13 for the Vikings.
 
The Blue and Gold is back at Carver Center on Saturday, February 1, hosting Wheaton in a 7:00 p.m. contest.