LISLE, Ill. (Dec. 15, 2008) - The North Central College men's basketball team persevered through some early foul trouble and wore a path to the free-throw line in its first road game of the season on Monday, prevailing, 71-63, over the Benedictine University Eagles at the Rice Center.

The Cardinals (5-2) made 37 trips to the charity stripe, making 23, to own a 10-point advantage at the line. North Central never trailed, opening the game with a 15-6 run.

Benedictine (4-4) rallied to eventually tie the contest at 28-28 with 3:57 left in the first half, but followed with a six-minute scoring drought that lasted into the early going of the second half. The Cardinals carried a 35-28 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

The Eagles trailed by just a 38-34 count before a jumper by Dean Prince (Sr., Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) and a three-point play by Reid Barringer (Jr., Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore) pushed the visitors' advantage to 43-34 with 14:10 remaining. Barringer's two free throws with 9:49 to go gave North Central its biggest lead at 57-42, but Benedictine countered with a 19-9 run that slashed its deficit to 66-61 five minutes later.

Back-to-back baskets by Matt Rogers (Sr., Rochelle, Ill./Rochelle) and Mitch Raridon (Sr., Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Northeast) helped the Cardinals ice the game down the stretch.

Barringer finished with a game-high 20 points, while Rogers and Raridon each tallied 12. Rogers added seven rebounds, and Raridon finished with a career-high five steals. Chris Drennan (Sr., Bloomington, Ill./Normal Community) totaled 11 points and Prince finished with 10 points and seven assists.

Cameron Snelling turned in 14 points and nine rebounds for the Eagles, who also got 11 points from Rob Bridgeman.

North Central travels to Las Vegas, Nev., this weekend, taking on McMurry University (Tex.) on Friday and the University of Mary Washington (Va.) on Saturday.