CCAC News
Posted by Amy Strong - Tue, Feb 26, 2008 - [ Men’s Basketball – DII ] - Viewed 242 times
A red-hot Kurt Gruppen led TCC to a CCAC Tournament opening-round win Tuesday night.
A red-hot Kurt Gruppen led TCC to a CCAC Tournament opening-round win Tuesday night.

Palos Heights, Ill. --- Behind numerous stellar shooting efforts, No. 2 seed Trinity Christian College posted a 92-64 victory over No. 7 seed Purdue University North Central (Ind.) in the first round of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Division II Tournament Tuesday night. The 28-point victory was due in a large part to the team’s 63.2 percent accuracy reading from long range (12-of-19).

Behind an 18-point first-half effort by Kurt Gruppen, who was 5-for-6 from beyond the arc in the opening half, Trinity Christian (19-11) built a commanding 49-22 halftime lead.
 
The Trolls took control of the game in the first half when they went on an 18-0 run over a six-minute period to turn a one-point lead into a 19-point advantage. That scoring gap widened even more in the final five minutes of the half when Trinity again outscored Purdue North Central, 17-4.

In that first half alone, the Trolls were 6-for-7 (85.7 percent) from three-point land and hit 63 percent of their shots from the field overall. They kept up that long-range shooting in the second half, matching the number of made treys in their 12 attempts.
 
Purdue North Central was able to pick up its offensive production in the second half, but did not gain any ground. The closest the Panthers got was 17 points and that was early in the half.

For the game, Trinity shot 57.4 percent from the field and 76.9 percent from the foul line.

Gruppen finished with 28 points, 21 of which came on three-pointers. Ross Stuursma shot 70 percent for the evening to end with 17 points. He also had five assists and four rebounds.

Will Bruinsma connected on six of his ten shot attempts for 15 points. He added six assists to the team’s totals.

Jonathan Huizinga was the high rebounder with seven boards, while Michael Thompson handed out six assists.

Purdue North Central ended the game shooting 40.7 percent from the field and 63.3 percent from the line. The Panthers were led in scoring by Terry Polk with 18 points. He was 8-for-14 from the field. Adam Dobrzeniecki added 10 points and nine rebounds. Also scoring in double figures was Brian Bogus with 14 points and Sylvester James with 10.

Purdue North Central ends its season with a 5-26 overall record.
 
The Trolls will host Cardinal Stritch University in a semifinal-round game on Thursday, February 28 at 7:00 pm.