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

Box Score

Nov. 20, 2012 - In what has become a theme in the early portion of the season, the North Central College men's basketball team used a strong second half to turn away a stubborn Aurora University squad, 84-77, on Tuesday evening at Gregory Arena.

The Cardinals' victory was the 400th in the career of North Central head coach Todd Raridon, who is now 400-208 in his 24th season and 131-83 in his ninth season in Naperville.

The sixth-ranked Cardinals (3-0) led through most of the early going before a 6-0 run moved Aurora into the lead for the first time at 23-22 with 8:33 left in the first half. North Central got a pair of jump shots from Derek Raridon and a three-point play from Landon Gamble to pull back in front at 29-25, but the Spartans scored the next 12 points, including a pair of three-pointers from Mark Adams, to take their largest lead at 37-29.

The Cardinals' Tyler Sutton stopped the bleeding with a three-pointer and the hosts narrowed the gap to 40-36 by halftime after Raridon's jumper closed the half. North Central tied the game at 44-44 early in the second period after two straight three-pointers by Vince Kmiec, though Aurora's Marquis Lobdell converted a pair of tip-ins to nudge the Spartans (0-2) back in front.

North Central followed by putting together its longest run of the night, a 13-0 surge which included seven points from Aaron Tiknis and put the hosts ahead, 57-48, with 13:53 to play. Aurora whittled the lead down over the next six minutes and briefly took the lead at 65-64 with 7:18 to play following Ryan Crow's three-point play.

The game was tied two more times before an Aurora technical foul enabled North Central to knock down a trio of free throws, and Gamble converted two more charity shots on the next trip down the floor. Raridon followed with another bucket and Tiknis turned in a three-point play to complete a 10-2 run which put the Cardinals in control for good.

Tiknis led five North Central double-figure scorers with 21 points and contributed a game-high five assists. Raridon put up 14 points, moving into 10th place in North Central career history (1,288), while Gamble put up 13 points, eight rebounds and four assists, Kmiec added 11 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals, and Charlie Rosenberg put up 10 points and five boards off the bench.

Adams led Aurora with 18 points, while Marious Lobdell scored 12, Crow finished with 11 and Jordan Hester added 10.

The Cardinals host Carroll University (3-0) on Saturday, with tipoff scheduled for 3 p.m.