The North Central men’s basketball team saw their tournament run come to an end tonight in a hard fought 84-82 loss to Loras College.
Gregory Arena was loud yet again as both North Central and Loras fans packed the gym. The setting was right, but North Central just couldn’t pull off the storybook ending.
The fans were equal in attendance to match their teams even competition on the floor as well.
“The teams mirrored each other size wise and shooting,” said head coach Todd Raridon. “Both teams played hard…we just didn’t adjust some of our defense.”
One of North Central’s starters, Blaise Meredith, ’21, was in foul trouble quickly. He was fouled out early in the second half which was a huge loss for them.
“Blaise has been a big part of our team this year … he’s been one of our best defensive players down the stretch. Obviously him being in foul trouble early hurt us defensively,” Raridon said.
With the hole in the defense, North Central worked hard to stay in it on offense. They shot a respectable 47 percent from the field while making 13 three-pointers as a team. Connor Raridon, ‘20, led the way with 29 points while sinking all 17 of his free throw attempts.
Loras College also found themselves with the hot hand which turned out to be the edge in this matchup. Loras shot 50.9 percent from the field while only going 3-10 from beyond the arc. The biggest factor was free throws as Loras found themselves at the line 30 times and made 23 of those attempts.
With North Central’s season ending, another group of seniors leaves as well. Aiden Chang and Jack Bronec, ’19, both went down at the beginning of the season with injuries but still worked to be leaders on the sideline all year.
“(Bronec and Chang) have encouraged our guys along the way. They really became an assistant coach,” Raridon said. “I’m not sure there was a game where the official didn’t tell me I had to tell them to be quiet.”
The men’s basketball team finishes their season 23-6 on the year.
