ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – North Central limited Augustana to .387 shooting for the game and hit 60 percent of its field goal attempts in the second half Saturday on its way to a 72-65 win in the CCIW Tournament championship game at Carver Center. The Cardinals (22-5) earned the league' automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, while the

third-ranked Vikings dropped to 24-3 and will await an at-large bid.
 
The hosts got off to fast start. Micah Martin (Iowa City HS, Iowa City, Iowa) had a conventional three-point play and Pierson Wofford (Iowa City HS, Iowa City, Iowa) a three-pointer on Augustana's first two possessions to go up 6-0. However, by the 16:46 mark of the first half, North Central had tied it at nine-all.
 
A Blaise Meredith bucket gave the Cardinals their first lead at 11-9 with 15:24 left in the half. Lucas Simon (Notre Dame HS, Chicago, Ill.) answered with a triple to give the Vikings one final advantage at 12-11, but Matt Cappelletti scored in the lane and Aaron Jones hit a three-pointer and North Central had the lead for good.
 
Augustana trailed by no more than five points until a Will Clausel basket 33 seconds before halftime made it 35-29 Cardinals. That's the way the half ended, as Austin Elledge's (Highland HS, Highland, Ill.) three attempt from the right corner rimmed out at the buzzer.
 
Brett Benning (Dakota HS, Davis, Ill.) opened the second half with a three-pointer from the left corner that pulled the Vikings to within three and the deficit was still three (38-35) after another Martin three-point play. However, Connor Raridon hit two free throws and Cappelletti a three-pointer to give North Central its biggest lead (43-35) to that point.
 
With 14:46 to play, Raridon drained a three-pointer to push the margin to double digits (49-39) for the first time and Will Clausel's jumper with 9:23 to play made 57-45. A long two and a three by Simon helped Augustana get to within 57-51, but the visitors answered again with baskets by Raridon and Clausel.
 
The Vikings would get as close as 66-60 on a Wofford three-point play and a Benning trey with 44 seconds left cut the deficit to five (68-63), but the Cardinals hit four free throws in the final 36 seconds to ice the game.
 
Martin scored a career-high 23 and grabbed a season-best 10 rebounds. He was joined in double figures by Wofford with 14 and Benning with 10. Five North Central players scored in double figures, led by Raridon, who finished with 23 points, six rebounds and eight assists.
 
For the game, Augustana shot 24 of 62 (.387) from the field, five of 19 (.263) from three-point range and 12 of 19 (.632) from the foul line. The Cardinals shot .532 (25-47) from the floor, .467 (7-15) from beyond the arc and .750 (15-20) from the free throw line. The Vikings held a 38-30 edge on the glass and committed 10 turnovers to nine for North Central.
 
The NCAA Division III Tournament field is scheduled to be announced at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, February 25.