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

Box Score

KENOSHA, Wis. (Feb. 13, 2010) - A short-handed North Central College men's basketball team gave 22nd-ranked Carthage College all it wanted Saturday night at Tarble Arena, but the Cardinals came up just short of pulling off the victory, suffering a 75-72 defeat at the hands of the Red Men.

North Central (11-12, 4-8 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) was playing without the services of senior guard Jon Knapczyk, who went down with an injury in Wednesday's game at North Park University, but still managed to hang with the CCIW co-leaders until the final seconds of the contest.

The Cardinals trailed by a 26-20 count late in the first half before Derek Raridon scored five points in 18 seconds to cut Carthage's lead to a single point, and two free throws by Brian Evans briefly gave North Central the lead before Tyler Pierce sank a jumper to give the Red Men a 28-27 edge with 58 seconds left in the opening period. Reid Barringer, however, closed the half with a three-pointer and sent the Cardinals into the halftime break with a 30-28 advantage.

The score was tied five times in the early going of the second half before Carthage got five straight points to take a 46-41 lead with 13:37 remaining. Kevin Gillespie and Barringer sank consecutive three-pointers to vault North Central back in front, and the Red Men's Steve Djurickovic made two free throws to put the hosts back in front before Gillespie knocked down another triple to provide North Central with a 50-48 edge.

A three-pointer by Carthage's Malcom Kelly, however, keyed a 15-3 run rally that gave the hosts a 63-53 lead with 5:50 to play. The Cardinals rallied to get as close as four points (69-65) on Barringer's three-pointer with 1:17 left, but the Red Men made just enough free throws down the stretch to stay in front.

David Twyman finished with game highs of 26 points and 12 rebounds for the Cardinals, while Raridon totaled 20 points and Gillespie handed out four assists.

Kelly scored 18 points for Carthage, which also got 15 points and seven assists from Djurickovic.

The Cardinals host Elmhurst College (6-17, 1-11 CCIW) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Senior Night fesitivites will be conducted prior to tipoff.