Follow Rams Hoopsters and Hardballers Live on the Road During Spring Break

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.-- North Central Men's & Women's Basketball and Baseball will be on the road for important games over spring break, beginning this weekend, and Rams fans can follow them live through several online media opportunities.

NCU Men's Hoops travels to Springfield, Missouri and the campus of Central Bible College for the 2010 NCCAA DII Men's Basketball National Championship Tourment to be played March 9-13. Every game of the 2010 Tournament will be aired live via an audio feed available at the Christian College Sports Network website at CSSNOnline.com  CCSN provides excellent coverate of NCCAA DII sports including a live interview of NCU Men's Head Coach Jon High available in their live audio archive. 

North Central Women's Basketball is making their third straight appearance in the NCCAA DII National Championship Tournament which begins on March 11 and runs through March 13. The 2010 edition is hosted by Philadelphia Biblical University. Fans can follow the action for all NCU games and every tournament match up via a free live video stream or live stats feed by visiting the National Tournament web page and clicking here. You can follow the directions for connecting to each option when you browse that site.

Pre-season NCCAA DII #10 Rams Baseball is heading out for their first spring break trip in program history and when they visit Mid-America Nazarene University (Olathe, Kan.) on March 13 at 1 pm, the host will be providing live video, audio, and stats for fans to enjoy. Audio and Stats feeds will be free. The video stream is available for $7.95. You can find links to all three options on the MNU Baseball schedule page by clicking here.

Here is a schedule for NCU Sports during 2010 Spring Break:

Saturday, March 6, 6pm:

Baseball @ #5 Ozark Christian College*

Monday, March 8, 2 pm:

Baseball @ #5 Ozark Christian College (DH)

Tuesday, March 9:

2 pm: Baseball @ Central Christian College*

8 pm: Men's Basketball @ NCCAA DII Nationals vs. #7 Southwestern Christian University

Thursday, March 11:

2 pm: Baseball @ #3 Manhattan Christian College (DH)

6 pm: Women's Basketball @ NCCAA DII Nationals vs. #1 Kentucky Christian University

Friday, March 12, 1 pm:

Baseball @ #3 Manhattan Christian College*

Saturday, March 13, 1 pm:

Baseball @ Mid-America Nazarene University*

Check the individual schedule pages for both basketball teams for times and match-ups as they continue on in the 2010 NCCAA National Tournaments.

*indicates single nine inning game

(DH) indicates two 7 inning games

Baseball rankings are based on the NCCAA DII Preseason Coaches Poll

Women's Basketball Grabs Overtime Win for Third Straight NCCAA Region Championship

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.-- North Central Women's Basketball needed overtime but the Rams would not be denied their third straight NCCAA II North Central Region Championship on Saturday evening. NCU defeated second seed and tournament host Faith Baptist Bible College 57-50 to earn their spot in the 2010 NCCAA DII Women's Basketball National Championship Tourament hosted by Philadelphia Biblical University.

Friday night NCU defeated fourth seed Providence College (Otterburne, Manitoba) 65-52 to earn a spot in Saturday's region championship game. Freshman All-America candidate Elizabeth Trickey (Waseca, Minn.) led NCU with a game high 24 points and six steals. With her outstanding performance Trickey moved into the lead for the most steals in a season by any player in NCU Women's basketball history. Sophomore Charity Bowers (Milwaukee, Wis.) chipped in 10 points and pulled down a team leading 12 rebounds.

Saturday's championship game presented the Rams with the difficult task of defeating one opponent three times during one season. NCU had defeated Faith Baptist, the second regional seed, in two regular season match-ups with one win coming on each team's home court. The Eagles were determined to deny NCU their third straight trip to the national championship tournament. Faith managed to overcome a 4 point NCU lead with 1:23 to play and tie the game at 46 at the end of regulation. Elisabeth Trickey knocked down a game tying jumper with 2:05 to play in the extra period. After a miss and turnover by each team a jumper by freshman Hope Sevlie (Red Wing, Minn.) gave NCU a lead with 45 seconds to play and NCU was able to convert free throws to seal the championship win. Sevlie led NCU with 19 points while pulling down 10 boards and Trickey added 14. Junior Caitlin Jusczak (Moose Lake, Minn.) chipped in 12 and Charity Bowers was the Rams' leading rebounder with 11. 

Elisabeth Trickey was named the Region's most valuable player and was nominated to the All-Region First Team after a season where she averaged 12.6 points and an NCCAA DII leading 4.6 steals a contest. Caitlin Jusczak and Charity Bowers were each named to the All-Region second team and Women's Head Coach Matt Callahan was named the region coach of the year in his first year at the helm of the Rams program.

North Central will open the 2010 NCCAA DII Women's Basketball National Tourament as the eighth seed and begin play on Thursday, March 11 with a 6 pm game verses national top seed Kentucky Christian University (Grayson, Kent.). The tournament is hosted by Philadelphia Biblical University March 11-13.

Live online broadcasts and stats will be available and you can find links to those options on the tournament website by clicking here.

Men's Hoops Punches Ticket to NCCAA DII National Tourney

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.-- North Central Men's Basketball powered past Providence College and Trinity Bible College to claim their second consective NCCAA Regional Championship along with the automatic bid to the national championship tournament which that victory provides.

Friday night NCU, the top regional seed, overcame a resolute team from fourth seed Providence College (Otterburne, Manitoba) for a 64-42 victory in the opening round match-up. North Central, who went undefeated in region play this season, jumped out to a 45-20 half time lead and its reserves were able to maintain the cusion all the way to the final buzzer. Team was the word of the evening as 9 of 14 Rams who suited up scored and three tallied double figures in a game where no NCU player logged more than 20 minutes of court time. Seniors Levi Kooistra (Brookfield, Ill.) and Jeremy Grilley (Columbia Falls, Mont.) notched 12 each and junior Ross Johnson (Kenosha, Wis.) chipped in 10. Senior point guard Phil Johnson (Minneapolis, Minn.) pulled down 8 rebounds in his team high 20 mintues of action to lead NCU on the boards. 

Saturday North Central would face third seed Trinity Bible College (Ellendale, N.D.) who pulled an upset over second seed, NCCAA number 19 and region tournament host Faith Baptist Bible College (Ankeny, Iowa) 85-80, in the opening round. The championship game was a hard fought battle between two rivals which saw NCU take a 49-36 halftime lead and finish with a 97-87 victory over the Lions.  North Central led by as many as 21 at several points in the final stanza before a final push by TBC trimmed the count to 8 with 32 seconds to play on a series of three pointers by the Lions. Once again a solid team performance aided the Rams who got four players into double figures and 9 of 11 players who played scored. Freshman Nathan Roeder (Hudson, Wis.) poured in 21 and Jeremy Grilley added 20. Senior Daniel Young (Crystal, Minn.) scored 17 and Phil Johnson contributed 12. Levi Kooistra led NCU with seven boards. North Central was able to play well without turning the ball over recording a 23-6 assist to turnover ratio in the regional championship victory. 

Following their undefeated run through the regular season and a second consecutive win in the regional title game, NCU was recognized with three All-Regional first team award winners and head coach Jon High was named the region coach of the year. Daniel Young, Phil Johnson, and Nathan Roeder were each named to the first team all-region squad and Jeremy Grilley was named as a second team selection.

NCU will now travel to Springfield, Mo. for the 2010 NCCAA DII Men's Basketball Championship played on March 9-13. North Central was given the tenth seed and will open tournament play verses seventh seed Southwestern Christian University (Bethany, Okla.) on Tuesday, March 9 with a 8 pm tip-off. Southwestern was selected as an at-large team for the national tournment after falling to the Southwest Region Champion Dallas Christian University in their region tournament. SWCU had been ranked in the NCCAA DII top ten all year and came into the region tournament as the top regional seed.

If NCU wins on Tuesday evening they will advance to play national second seed Valley Forge Christian College (Phoenixville, Pa.) at 2 pm on Thursday, March 11. If they fall in opening round action the Rams will continue in the consolation bracket with an 8 pm game on Wednesday, March 10. North Central lost a close battle with Valley Forge, 63-56, in the neutral court Assemblies of God Credit Union Classic played at Trinity Bible College on January 16. 

Rams fans can follow NCU at the National Championship Tournament via a live online audio stream at CCSNOnline.com. 

Click here for the National Tournament website.

Click here for a bracket complete with game times for each game in the 2010 NCCAA DII Men's Basketball Championship Tournament.

Rams Hoops Teams Finish the Year Strong; Grab Top NCCAA Regional Playoff Seeds

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.-- North Central Men's & Women's Basketball each battled to undefeated seasons in regional play and top seed placement in the 2010 NCCAA Regional Tournament to be played this weekend in Ankeny, Iowa on the campus of Faith Baptist Bible College. Games will take place Friday and Saturday, February 26 & 27.

The Rams men solidified their top seed and a 4-0 finish in regional play with a a solid and methodical 92-73 victory over Faith Baptist Bible College (Ankeny, Iowa) at home last Tuesday night. Faith gave NCU all it could handle for most of the contest before NCU was able to stay disciplined and focused long enough to withstand the onslaught of an Eagles team that had upset NCCAA DII number 11 Northland International University (Dunbar, Wis.) the night before. North Central was led by a record breaking performance from freshman Nathan Roeder (Hudson, Wis.) who poured in a career high 34 points. Roeder, an 83 percent free throw shooter, went 15-17 at the stripe to set an NCU single game mark for made free throws. Seniors Jeremy Grilley (Columbia Falls, Mont.) and Phil Johnson (Minneapolis, Minn.) each added 14 points on the evening.

Saturday NCU fell to Northland International, 74-69, in overtime. NCU returned to action last night to play its final regular season game of the year verses Crossroads College (Rochester, Minn.) in the Target Center, the home the Minnesota Timberwolves of the NBA. NCU trailed a scrappy Knights team by as many as 13 in the first half before leading 37-31 at the half 37-31. North Central pulled away using defense to hold the Knights to 21 second half points en route to a very methodical 74-55 win. Senior Daniel Young (Crystal, Minn.) used a 19 point, game high effort to eclipse the 1000 point mark for his four year Rams career. Nathan Roeder added 14 and Jeremy Grilley chipped in 11 for North Central who finishes the regular season with a 10-15 record and a 4-0 record verses NCCAA DII regional competition.

North Central Women's Hoops also finished the season with a strong win over Faith Baptist in a hard fought 59-55 victory last Tuesday night. NCU battled well against the Eagles in a back and fourth game which saw each team hold a second half lead. Freshman Elizabeth Trickey (Waseca, Minn.) notched a career high 30 points including 3-5 shooting from the three point line. Trickey also used an eight steal performance to move into the top spot in all of NCCAA DII in steals per game, averaging 4.9 swipes a contest. Sophomore Charity Bowers (Milwaukee, Wis.) pulled down 12 rebounds in the win. 

Saturday saw the the Women also lose a heart breaker when Northland International knocked off NCU 49-47 when Northland converted on two free throws with less than 3 seconds left on the game clock. Elizabeth Trickey once again led NCU with 19 points. Trickey's 9 steal performance stands as a season high and marks the 12 game the freshman has recorded five or more steals. Charity Bowers recorded a double-double on the night with 10 points and 11 rebounds. 

The Women wrapped up their regular season with a convincing 60-38 victory over Crossroads College last night at Target Center. North Central got another outstanding performance from Elizabeth Trickey who tallied the third highest single game scoring output in NCU history with 32 points on 15 of 17 shooting. She also recorded five steals which gives her 118 on the year, 3 shy of tying the single season record of 121 set by Peggy Vagle during the 1994-95 season. She also currently stands in third place in all of NCAA DIII in steals per game. Junior Caitlin Jusczak (Moose Lake, Minn.) scored 10 points and Charity Bowers grabbed her third straight double digit rebounding performance with 11 boards. NCU finishes up the regular season with a 7-18 record and a 4-0 mark in NCCAA regional play.

The Rams teams will each open the regional playoffs with a game verses Providence College (Otterburne, Manitoba) on Friday night. The women tip off at 2 pm and the men follow at 4 pm. The ladies defeated the Freemen 72-51 in their only meeting back on February 5 in Minneapolis. North Central's men also defeated Providence on February 5 in Minneapolis by a 99-50 score in their only match up with the Freemen. The 99 points scored and the 50 points surrendered were each season bests for the Rams.

With a victory in Friday's match-ups, the Rams will advance to the NCCAA Regional Championship game to be played on Saturday evening. The other first round match up for both the Men's and Women's tournaments places second seed and host Faith Baptist against third seed Trinity Bible College (Ellendale, N.D.). The Women's Region Championship game will tip off at 1 pm and the Men's game will begin at 3 pm.

The winner of each championship game will advance to its respective 2010 NCCAA National Championship Tournament to be held March 9-13. The Women's tournament will be hosted by Philadelphia Biblical University. The Men's tournament will be hosted by Central Bible College (Springfield, Mo.).

Live streaming audio/video broadcasts will be available for each tournament game. Visit the regional tournament website by clicking here to find scores, streaming links, awards, and stats.

Catch NCU Basketball at NBA's Target Center and Get a Timberwolves Ticket

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.-- North Central Men's and Women's Basketball are playing at Target Center and fans can get a Minnesota Timberwolves ticket voucher for purchasing a ticket to see the Rams take on Crossroads College.

February 23 North Central will take on Crossroads College (Rochester, Minn.) at the Target Center, home of the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). NCU's Women will tip off the double header action at 5:30 pm and the men will follow at 7:30 pm.

Tickets are $15 and fans will receive a voucher for a ticket to one of four upcoming Minnesota Timbwolves home games.

The Target Center is home to the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves and the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx and has hosted many nationally tourning musicians and entertainment acts.

For more information contact NCU Athletics at athletics@northcentral.edu or stop by the Student Life Offices on campus to purchase your tickets.

Rams Baseball Begins Practice for an Exciting 2010 Campaign

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.-- North Central University Baseball has opened up their official team practices for what looks to be an exciting 2010 campaign. The Rams began practice on February 1 and the team will use several different top notch facilities in preparation for an ambitious schedule which includes 39 games. An improved and deep roster could give the Rams a chance to make a run at the best season in North Central history.

Practices during the preseason will take place at North Central and several times the Rams will travel to local indoor facilities including the Rosemount Irish Dome (pictures) and Players Only Inc (www.playersonlyinc.com). Improvement in on campus facilities during the off season included the installation of a permanent indoor batting cage which allows players to get in batting practice, live pitch hitting, and extended pitching workouts each day. During the first two weeks of practice NCU has received instruction from guest coach Tom Johnson. Johnson is a former pitcher for the Minnesota Twins and now runs sports based missions organization Good Sports (www.go4slovakia.org). He will be working with NCU in several practices before he heads back to Slovakia for more work with his organization.

2010 will see the Rams field an improved and deep line up including the addition of several notable recruits:

Keaton Larrabee (0F/RHP, Austin, Texas) Larrabee was 1st team all district three years, and was honorable mention all-state his junior and senior seasons for class AAA Concordia Academy of Austin. He also played soccer and basketball and was named Concordia’s Male Athlete of the Year his senior season.

James Martinez (RHP, San Pedro de Macoris, Domincan Republic) James is the brother of NCU recruit Juan Martinez. He was part of the Cano Baseball Academy in San Pedro the last two years. He is a very talented, hard throwing pitcher with a bright future.

Blake Balaam (LHP, Mission Viejo, Calif.) Balaam attended Calvary Chapel High School in Santa Ana and will major in Elementary Education. He is a strike-throwing lefty with experience against many quality opponents including a complete game victory against nationally ranked Lakewood (Calif.) High School during his junior season.

Devin Lehnhoff (RHP/3B, Ellendale, N.D.) Lehnhoff was 7-1 on the mound for Ellendale’s Legion team his junior year while also being named an all-region linebacker for the Ellendale football team.

Coach Tim Beasley will lead his team through an exciting schedule which opens March 1 & 2 with a pair of double-headers verses NAIA opponent Robert Morris College (Chicago, Ill.) in the Metrodome. Following the season opener the Rams will then travel south for their first major spring break trip in program history.

Over eight days NCU will play eight games including contests verses NCCAA DII top five programs Ozark Christian College (Joplin, Mo.) and Manhattan Christian College (Manhattan, Kan.) and NAIA teams Central Christian College (McPherson, Kan.) and Mid-America Nazarene University (Olathe, Kan.). March 6 -8 the Rams play a three game set with Ozark Christian before traveling to Central Christian College on March 9 for a single game. March 11-12 NCU will play a three game set with Manhattan Christian College and then close out the trip with a single game against Mid-America Nazarene University.

During 2010 the Rams will play 16 opponents from the NAIA and NCAA Division III respectively and round out their 39 game slate with 7 contests verses several top level NCCAA Division II teams.