Jan. 24, 2008-After dropping its last two College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin games on the road, the North Central College men's basketball team returned to the friendly confines of Gregory Arena where a balanced scoring effort carried the team to a 76-64 win over Carthage College. Chris Drennan (Sr., Bloomington, Ill./Normal Community) led the scoring effort with 19 points as five Cardinals ended the night in double figures.

A 13-2 spurt midway through the second half increased the Cardinals tenuous two-point lead to a game-high 13-point cushion with less than 10 minutes to play. The Red Men would chip away at the lead and come within six after a Cody Hilton three-pointer with 3:20 to play, but were unable to come any closer.

Carthage scored the game's first five points and held an 18-13 advantage with 8:04 remaining in the first half before a 13-2 run gave the Cardinals a six-point lead with 3:26 to play. The Cardinals would maintain the lead the rest of the game, taking a 34-29 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

Drennan led the team in scoring, rebounds and assists, finishing the night with 19 points and seven boards while dishing out six assists. Mitch Raridon (Sr., Lincoln, Neb./Northeast) chipped in 13 points, while recording three steals and five assists. Matt Rogers (Sr., Rochelle, Ill./Lakeland College), David Twyman (Jr., Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) and Dean Prince (Sr., Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) rounded out the Cardinals in double figures with all three scoring 10 points.

Steve Djurickovic, the conference scoring leader, was held just slightly under his scoring average as he finished with a game high 24 points along with eight assists. Sean Fendley added 11 points for the Red Men while Richard Williams had 10.

It was a solid night from the field for North Central, shooting 52.8 percent (28-for-53) for the game including 56 percent (14-for-25) in the first half.

With the win, North Central improves to 12-5 overall and 4-2 in CCIW action while the Red Men, who defeated top ranked Wheaton College on Wednesday, falls to 12-5 overall and 4-2 in conference. The Cardinals return to action on Wednesday, January 28, taking on No. 1 Wheaton at 7:30 p.m. inside Gregory Arena.