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

Box Score

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (Feb. 20, 2010) - An early lead did not hold up for the North Central College men's basketball team on Saturday, as the Cardinals dropped their final game of the season, 72-55, to Augustana College at the Carver Center.

The Cardinals opened the game with a 6-0 run and dominated play throughout the early going, extending their lead to 19-8 after a jumper by Kevin Gillespie and a putback by Reid Barringer, which prompted an Augustana timeout 12:23 on the first-half clock.

The Vikings (16-9, 9-5 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) regrouped quickly, making their next six shots, including three straight three-pointers, in putting together a 20-6 run that gave the hosts a 28-25 lead with 6:37 left. David Twyman and Brian Evans each scored to provide the Cardinals with a 29-28 edge, but Augustana scored the next 15 points to take control and carried a 45-32 advantage into halftime.

North Central closed the gap to eight points on three occasions in the second half, the last of which occurred at 57-49 with 7:41 to play. The Vikings, who limited the Cardinals to 33.3 percent shooting (8-24) in the final 20 minutes, scored 13 of the next 15 points to put the game away.

Twyman finished with a team-high 23 points for North Central, while Derek Raridon contributed 14 and established a new school record for points scored by a freshman (532). Evans contributed seven rebounds and four assists.

Kyle Nelson paced Augustana with 16 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.

The Cardinals finish the 2009-2010 season 12-13 overall and 5-9 in the CCIW.