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

Box Score

WHEATON, Ill. (Jan. 9, 2010) - The North Central College men's basketball team nearly saw its second-half comeback effort result in a College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin road victory Saturday, but the 14th-ranked Wheaton College Thunder made just enough plays to avoid the upset and escape King Arena with a 67-64 win.

Trailing, 40-30, at halftime, the Cardinals (7-6, 0-2 CCIW) still trailed, 61-51, when an 8-0 rally, accomplished solely at the free-throw line, cut the lead to just two points with 4:44 to play. Wheaton's Ben Panner knocked down a jumper to double the Thunder's advantage before Jon Knapczyk drove to the hoop for a layup.

The Thunder came up empty on two straight possessions before Derek Raridon knocked down a three-pointer with 1:40 left to give North Central a 64-63 lead, its first since early in the first half.

Panner, however, stuck another jumper to put the Thunder back in front. The visitors saw four straight field-goal attempts come up short, and Wheaton's Andrew Jahns hit two free throws with 17 seconds leave the Cardinals in need of a three-pointer to force overtime. The last-second attempt from beyond the arc was off the mark.

Raridon paced North Central's scoring effort with 19 points, while David Twyman added 17 and Knapczyk scored 11. Brian Evans grabbed a team-best eight rebounds and Reid Barringer led the Cardinals with five assists.

Panner led all scorers with 24 points, while Tim McCrary added 20 points for the Thunder (9-4, 1-1).

The Cardinals host North Park University on Wednesday, with tipoff at Gregory Arena scheduled for 7:30 p.m.