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

KENOSHA, Wis. (Feb. 15, 2017) - A valiant second-half comeback nearly propelled the North Central College men's basketball team to a pivotal College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) victory at Carthage College Wednesday, but the host Red Men forced an extra session and escaped with a 78-74 win over the Cardinals at Tarble Arena.

The loss spoiled a prolific effort by North Central's Alex Sorenson, who scored 24 points on 9 of 13 shooting to hit the 20-point mark for the third straight game. He also grabbed eight rebounds and tied his own single-game school record with six blocked shots.

After initially taking a 16-9 lead, the Cardinals (14-10, 8-7 CCIW) fell behind midway through the first period as the Red Men put together a 15-2 scoring run. Carthage led by as many as 13 points before taking a 35-25 advantage into halftime. North Central got to work narrowing the gap as soon as the second half began, getting an inside jumper from Matt Cappelletti and a three-pointer from Aiden Chang in its first two possessions.

The Cardinals trailed by a 52-43 margin before a layup by Erwin Henry, a three-point play by Sorenson and another three-point dagger from Chang in a 61-second span closed the deficit to 52-51. Carthage's Kienan Baltimore sank two free throws to stop the bleeding, but Chang fired home another triple with 6:35 to play to tie the contest at 54-54.

North Central held the Red Men scoreless for the next four minutes and got four straight points from Sorenson to take a 58-54 advantage with 2:23 on the clock. The Cardinals led, 62-58, with 1:02 left before Baltimore scored inside to cut the lead in half. The visitors sank one of two free throws on the end to lead, 63-60, but Carthage's Jordan Thomas delivered a game-tying three-pointer with the 30 seconds to go. The Cardinals held the ball for one final shot to win in regulation, but the shot was off the mark and the game headed into extra time.

The Cardinals led, 69-68, with 2:56 left in the overtime period as Sorenson scored on a pair of jumpers and Chang sank two free throws, but the Red Men got a three-point play from Mike Stevenson, and soon thereafter, Baltimore came up with a steal and fed Brad Kruse for a layup for a second basket in 14 seconds and a 73-69 lead. Carthage stayed in front the rest of the way.

Sorenson scored 19 of his 24 points in the second half and overtime. Chang scored 19 points, making 5 of 10 three-point shots, while Henry and Cappelletti each scored 12. Henry, who played all 45 minutes of the game, also added eight rebounds, a career-high eight assists and three steals.

Baltimore finished with a game-high 31 points off the bench for Carthage (16-7, 9-5), while Stevenson scored 11 points.

North Central plays its final regular-season game on Saturday, traveling to face Illinois Wesleyan University (16-7, 8-6). Tipoff at the Shirk Center is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.