NAPERVILLE, Ill.— Austin Elledge's (Highland HS, Highland, Ill.) three-pointer just before the final buzzer was off the mark Wednesday, allowing 16th-ranked North Central to come away with a 54-53 win over Augustana at Gregory Arena. The hosts won their 10th straight to move to 14-3 on the season and 7-1 in the CCIW, while the Vikings fell to 11-6 overall and 5-3 in the league.
 
A Blaise Meredith conventional three-point play with 8½ minutes to play gave the Cardinals their largest lead of the night at 48-39 and they still led by eight (52-44) after a Matt Cappelletti layup at the 6:18 mark. Cappelletti's bucket would be North Central's last field goal of the game though and Augustana would hold the Cardinals scoreless for more than four minutes.
 
Micah Martin (Iowa City HS, Iowa City, Iowa) scored in the lane to cut the deficit to six. Pierson Wofford's (Springfield Lutheran HS, Springfield, Ill.) two free throws at the five-minute mark made it 52-48 and his basket with 3:49 remaining got the Vikings within a bucket at 52-50.
 
With two minutes left, Matt Helwig hit two free throws to put the hosts up 54-51. Each team had an empty trip before Jack Jelen (Bay HS, Bay Village, Ohio) scored in the lane to make it a one-point game. After Cappelletti missed a three-pointer and Augustana called timeout with 11 seconds to play, Elledge's three-point buzzer-beater wouldn't fall.
 
Jelen and Lucas Simon (Notre Dame HS, Chicago, Ill.) each hit a three-pointer as the Vikings took an early 8-2 lead. The Cardinals answered with a 9-2 run and Helwig's layup at 15:22 of the first half gave them their first lead at 11-10. The next eight minutes would see four lead changes, but when Cappelletti scored at the 7:14 mark to put North Central up 21-20, the Cardinals had the lead for good. A Meredith tip-in gave the hosts a 28-25 lead at the break.
 
The margin bounced between two and six points through the first part of the second half before Meredith's three-point play put North Central up nine with 8:32 to play.
 
Wofford, who went over 1,000 career points on a short jumper late in the first half, led Augustana with 15 points and eight rebounds. Jelen was the only other Viking in double figures with 11. Meredith had game-highs of 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Cardinals.
 
Augustana dominated the boards by a 42-26 margin and committed just nine turnovers, but couldn't overcome a 19-of-57 (.333) shooting night which included just five of 23 (.217) from beyond the arc. The Vikings were 10 of 15 (.667) at the foul line. North Central shot .447 on 21 of 47 and hit six of 20 (.300) three-point attempts and six of nine (.667) free throws. The Cardinals turned it over just eight times.
 
Next up for Coach Grey Giovanine's outfit is a trip to Waukesha, Wisconsin on Saturday, January 25 and a date with Carroll. Tipoff at Van Male Field House is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.