Feb. 14, 2009 - The North Central College men's basketball team was at its best when it mattered most Saturday evening, as the Cardinals erased a double-digit second-half deficit and rolled past the 20th-ranked Augustana College Vikings, 65-62, at Gregory Arena.
North Central (16-7, 8-4 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) is now locked in a tie with Elmhurst College for second place in the CCIW standings heading into the final week of the regular season.
The Cardinals held a 9-8 lead after the first six minutes of play, but Augustana (17-7, 8-5 CCIW) outscored the hosts, 17-5, over the next seven minutes to take what amounted to the Vikings' largest lead of the game at 25-14. Trailing, 30-20, with 5:07 left in the half, North Central closed with a 8-2 surge, with four points coming from Chris Drennan (Sr., Bloomington, Ill./Normal Community), to trail by just a 32-28 margin at the break.
Augustana built its lead back up to 40-30 shortly after play resumed, but an inside bucket from Matt Rogers (Sr., Rochelle, Ill./Rochelle) and two straight three-pointers by Reid Barringer (Jr., Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore) sliced eight points off the Cardinals' deficit. The Vikings scored the next four points before North Central embarked on the decisive run of the night, a 16-2 run which included 10 points from Barringer and left the home team with a 54-46 advantage with 5:28 on the clock.
The Vikings' comeback effort near the end of the game stalled as North Central made 9 of 10 free throws in the final 1:10.
Barringer finished the night with a game-high 20 points in 24 minutes. Rogers contributed 14 points, while Drennan added 12 and Mitch Raridon (Sr., Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Northeast) scored 11. Drennan also turned in seven rebounds, while Raridon notched six assists.
Matt Pelton paced Augustana with 15 points. Kyle Nelson put up 12 points and Jordan Delp scored 11 for the Vikings.
North Central hosts Elmhurst (17-6, 8-4) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The Cardinals' Senior Night ceremony will be conducted prior to tipoff.
