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

Box Score

DECATUR, Ill. (Jan. 16, 2010) - The North Central College men's basketball team put an end to its struggles to post its first College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin victory of the season on Saturday, turning in a 76-69 victory over the Millikin University Big Blue at the Griswold Center.

The Cardinals (8-7, 1-3 CCIW) led for nearly the entire game, pulling ahead by as many as 15 points in the second half and never allowing a late comeback effort to get Millikin any closer than four points.

After yielding the game's first basket, North Central scored six straight to take its initial lead. The Cardinals led by as many as eight points before the Big Blue tied the game at 23-23 on a jumper by Derron Wooten with 6:03 left in the first half.

A three-point play by Jon Knapczyk and two free throws by Derek Raridon moved North Central back in front, and Raridon's three-pointer extended the advantage to 33-26 with 4:15 left. A three-pointer by Reid Barringer extended the lead to eight points (39-31) with less than a minute to go. Millikin's Joscar Demby knocked down a jump shot with 39 seconds left, but Raridon countered with a jumper of his own with 18 seconds remaining to send the Cardinals into the locker room with a 41-33 edge.

North Central opened the second half with a 9-2 run, capped off by a three-pointer by Barringer, to take its biggest lead at 50-35. The Big Blue regrouped and manufactured a 15-4 surge to narrow the gap to 54-50. The lead fluctuated between four and seven points until 1:12 remained, when Mike Saris canned a pair of free throws to extend the Cardinals' advantage to 69-60. Millikin's Sedric Ferguson sank a jump shot on the next trip down the floor, but Barringer converted a three-point play on the next possession to give North Central a double-digit lead (72-62) once again. The Cardinals made four free throws in the final 22 seconds to keep the Big Blue from threatening any further.

Raridon finished with 24 points and eight rebounds to lead the Cardinals. Barringer scored 19 points to give him an even 1,000 for his career, making him the 22nd North Central player to top the 1,000-point plateau, and Knapczyk finished with a career-best 18 points.

Colby Long came off the bench to pace Millikin (6-9, 1-3) with 13 points. Demby put up 11 points and nine rebounds for the Big Blue.

North Central hosts Carthage College on Wednesday at Gregory Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.