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

Box Score

Jan. 12, 2013 - Playing shorthanded and looking to bounce back from its first loss of the season, the North Central College men's basketball team turned up the defensive pressure and took down the 17th-ranked Augustana College Vikings, 59-46, Saturday evening at Gregory Arena.

The Cardinals (14-1, 3-1 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) matched its lowest opponent point total against a NCAA Division III team this season and remained unbeaten at home (8-0) and against top 25-ranked teams (4-0).

North Central was forced to play without senior forward Aaron Tiknis, who was injured in Wednesday's loss at Carthage College. Despite a shorter bench, the Cardinals were locked in on the defensive end from the beginning and allowed just four points in the first eight minutes of play to pull ahead. 

The hosts took a 14-6 lead after Charlie Rosenberg's layup with 10:01 on the first-half clock, and the Vikings (12-3, 2-2 CCIW) slashed the lead to 18-16 before North Central responded with a 8-2 run, including six points from Jack Burchett, to restore its advantage to 26-18 before heading into halftime with a 30-23 edge. 

Augustana scored six straight points to narrow the gap to a single point at 32-31 early in the second half, but the Cardinals got a layup from Brandon Williams and a three-pointer from Pat Rourke to stop the bleeding. North Central began the decisive run of the game with 8:19 remaining, kickstarted by three-point play from Landon Gamble and a three-point shot by Derek Raridon, to score nine straight points and turn a 44-40 lead into the Cardinals' largest advantage at 53-40.

North Central limited the Vikings to 34.7 percent shooting from the floor (17-49), marking the eighth time this season the Cardinals have held an opponent to less than 35 percent accuracy. Gamble led all scorers with 22 points, putting him over the 20-point mark for the third time. He also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and made 10 of a season-high 12 free-throw attempts.

Williams added nine points and Burchett finished with eight points and six boards for the Cardinals. Raridon, playing through an injury also sustained at Carthage, turned in a team-high four assists, while Rosenberg and Vince Kmiec each totaled three steals.

Danielius Jurgutis was Augustana's leading scorer with 13 points, while Brandon Kunz posted eight points and nine rebounds.

North Central hosts Millikin University (7-8, 3-1) on Wendesday at Gregory Arena with tipoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The Big Blue lost a 91-71 decision at Wheaton College on Saturday. Links to live in-game statistics, audio and video can be accessed at northcentralcardinals.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball.