ROCK ISLAND, Ill.—In a showdown for first place in the CCIW Wednesday, it was all North Central, as the 14th-ranked Cardinals handed 25th-rated Augustana a 70-55 setback at Carver Center. The Vikings fell to 16-7 on the season and 10-4 in the conference, while the visitors improved to 18-4 overall and 11-2 in the league.
 
North Central took a 2-0 lead on a Matt Helwig layup and never trailed in the contest. Augustana trailed just 6-5 after a Micah Martin (Iowa City HS, Iowa City, Iowa) layup at 16:48 of the first half, but the Cardinals answered with five straight points and it wouldn't be a one-possession game again.
 
The margin grew to 16 (35-19) before consecutive three-pointers by Matt Hanushewsky (Hersey HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) and Pierson Wofford (Springfield Lutheran HS, Springfield, Ill.) trimmed it to 10 (35-25) with 3:25 left in the half. However, North Central responded by scoring the last 11 points of the period to lead 46-25 at intermission.
 
The Cardinals hit nine of 13 (.692) three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes.
 
The guests continued their run in the second half, scoring the first 10 points while holding the Vikings scoreless for nearly five minutes. Connor Raridon's layup with 15:28 to play gave North Central its biggest lead of the night at 56-25.
 
From that point, Augustana got a nice second half out of freshman Daniel Carr (Regis Jesuit HS, Highlands Ranch, Colo.) to help gradually chip away at the deficit. The final margin was as close as the Vikings had been since late in the first half.
 
Wofford led Augustana with 12 points and nine rebounds. Jack Jelen (Bay HS, Bay Village, Ohio) added 10 points and Hanushewsky nine. Carr had eight points and eight rebounds in just nine minutes of action.
 
Matt Cappelletti scored a game-high 22 for the Cardinals. Blaise Meredith scored a dozen and Matt Helwig 10.
 
The Vikings finished the night 21 of 50 (.420) from the field, seven of 22 (.318) from three-point range and six of 10 (.600) from the foul line. North Central shot .451 (23-51) from the floor, .480 (12-25) from three-point range and .706 (12-17) from the free throw line. The Cardinals had a 32-30 edge on the glass and committed just nine turnovers to Augustana's 13.
 
Coach Grey Giovanine's crew is back in action at Carver on Saturday, February 15, taking on Carthage, with tipoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m.