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Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

Box Score

Nov. 28, 2009 - Venturing into overtime for the second time in five days, the North Central College men's basketball team tasted victory once again, erasing a large early deficit and defeating the Illinois College Blue Boys, 92-86, at Gregory Arena.

Barely removed from a 119-118 triple-overtime triumph over Aurora University on Tuesday, the Cardinals (3-1) trailed by as many as 21 points in the first half on Saturday before storming back into contention.

Illinois College (3-1) dominated play in the first few minutes, scoring 14 of the game's first 18 points and needing less than eight minutes to build a 20-point lead (27-7). The Blue Boys' lead was at its largest at 31-10 with 10:09 remaining in the opening period.

North Central went to work steadily whittling its deficit down, ultimately slashing the visitors' lead to 41-30 at halftime following a pair of three-pointers by Reid Barringer. David Twyman's layup to open the second half got the Cardinals within single digits for the first time since shortly after the game began, and the hosts kept charging forward until the 13:43 mark, when a bucket by Brian Evans tied the contest at 47-47.

The Blue Boys responded with a 9-0 run to regain control, but another layup by Evans, a three-pointer by Derek Raridon and a three-point play by Kyle Julius left Illinois College with just a 58-55 advantage.

Trailing, 67-60, North Central got six straight points from Raridon. After the Blue Boys' Jacob Tucker made a free throw, Julius drained a three-pointer to give the Cardinals a 69-68 edge, their first of the game. Evans tacked on a free throw with nine seconds left, but Illinois College's David Stewart drove the lane and was fouled just before the buzzer, hitting both charity tosses.

Julius hit from beyond the arc again at the start of the overtime period, and Jon Knapczyk followed with a layup. The Cardinals stayed in front from then on, making 11 of 14 free throws and 3 of 5 three-pointers in the extra frame. Julius scored 13 of North Central's 22 points in overtime, making 7 of 8 free throws.

Julius finished as the game's high scorer, totaling 31 points. Raridon put up 24 points, and Barringer and Twyman each scored 12. Twyman also grabbed 12 rebounds for his first career double-double, and his five assists tied him with Knapczyk for the team lead.

Barringer made four three-pointers in the game, pushing his career total to 180, which establishes a new North Central career record.

Tucker was the Blue Boys' scoring leader with 21 points. Nathan Kohler scored 17 points off the bench and David Stewart and Craig Bals each scored 15.

North Central travels to Albion College (Mich.) for the first of four straight road games on Wednesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Eastern time.