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

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (Feb. 8, 2017) - A fifth straight win was tantalizingly close for the North Central College men's basketball team Wednesday evening, but a late rally by Augustana College forced overtime and the 20th-ranked Vikings managed a 72-66 victory over the Cardinals at the Carver Center.

The Cardinals (13-9, 7-6 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) owned a 57-51 advantage with one minute left in regulation play before Augustana put together an 8-2 surge to force an extra session, then scored nine of the first 11 points in overtime to secure the win.

North Central trailed, 6-0, after three minutes, before scoring eight straight points. The Vikings (18-4, 11-2 CCIW) scored eight of the next nine points to pull back in front before the Cardinals embarked on a 15-4 surge, with eight points coming from Erwin Henry, to take a 24-18 advantage. The visitors wound up heading into halftime with a 26-22 advantage.

Augustana opened the second half with a 13-4 surge which spaned nearly seven minutes to take a 35-30 lead, but Aiden Chang knocked down a three-pointer and Jagger Anderson converted a three-point play in a 56-second span to put the Cardinals back in front at 36-35. Henry followed with a free throw and a three-pointer on separate possessions to extend the lead to 40-35 with 9:05 to play.

The Vikings leveled the score at 41-41 on Micah Martin's free throw with 7:22 remaining, though North Central countered with a basket in the post by Alex Sorenson and two free throws by Henry. Following a bucket by Augustana's Jacob Johnston, Henry set a stout screen in the backcourt before getting fouled while sinking a layup. Henry sank the ensuing free throw for a three-point play, extending the Cardinals' lead to 48-43 with 4:48 left.

Augustana cut the lead to 48-47, prompting a Cardinal timeout with 3:42 left, though Sorenson followed with an 18-foot jumper off an assist from Henry to extend the lead to 50-47. The Vikings' Chrishawn Orange knocked down two free throws, and Chang countered with another three-pointer. Orange sank two more charity shots with 1:49 left, countered by Alex Sorenson's putback with the shot clock winding down.

Anderson drove the lane for a layup to extend North Central's lead to 57-51, which the Vikings' Nolan Ebel followed by banking in a three-pointer which cut the lead in half with 45.8 seconds left. With his team trailing, 59-55, Ebel scored twice in the final 17 seconds to force overtime with the score tied, 59-59.

The Cardinals were held scoreless for the first 3:38 of the five-minute overtime, during which time Orange and Ebel both scored to give the hosts a 63-59 edge. Anderson converted a layup, but a three-point play by Ebel and two more free throws from Orange put the Vikings in the driver's seat the rest of the way.

Ebel led all scorers with 26 points on 10 of 14 shooting from the floor, while Orange scored 12 points. 

Henry and Sorenson each scored 22 points to share team-high scoring honors for the Cardinals, while Anderson scored 12. Sorenson added 12 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season.

North Central hosts Elmhurst College (6-16, 2-11) on Saturday. Senior Night festivities will be observed prior to the scheduled 7:00 p.m. tipoff.