Burchett, North Central take down Titans in CCIW opener

Posted on January 4, 2015

Alec Bausch scored seven points in IWU's loss to North Central. (WJBC file photo)

By Eric Stock 

NAPERVILLE – Ron Rose probably sees Jack Burchett in his nightmares. 

The Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball coach watched again as the North Central standout who torched them in the 2013 Sweet 16 came up big again, scoring 25 points in the Cardinals' 78-72 win in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin opener at Gregory Arena. 

North Central pulled away to an 11-point second half lead before IWU trimmed the deficit to 72-70 on 3-pointers by Bryce Dolan and Jordan Nelson with 58 seconds to go. 

Burchett sank two free throws with 33 seconds to go to up the lead to four. Burchett, a 43-percent free throw shooter, made seven of eight attempts. 

Wesleyan was led by Trevor Seibring's 15 points. Nelson finished with 14. Ryan Coyle managed 3 points as he foulded out after only eight minutes. 

IWU (8-4 overall) will play at Wheaton on Wednesday. 

PODCAST: Coach Ron Rose's postgame interview on WJBC.

Titan women

The Illinois Wesleyan women led for the first 39 minutes before the homestanding Cardinals rallied for a 59-56 win at North Central. 

IWU jumped out to an early 15-2 lead, but the Cardinals trimmed the deficit to 29-23 at the half. Bobby Jones' layup with 58 seconds to go put NCC on top for the first time. 

North Central stays perfect at 12-0. Mia Smith's Titans drop to 6-6. 

PODCAST: Coach Mia Smith's postgame interview on WJBC.

Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected]. 

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