Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Box Score
CHICAGO (Jan. 26, 2019) - After waiting nearly two months for a rematch, the North Central College men's basketball team got its long-awaited revenge for an early-season loss on Saturday, leading throughout the bulk of an 80-60 victory over North Park University at the North Park Gymnasium.
Leading throughout the majority of the game, the Cardinals (17-3, 9-2 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) put the contest out of reach with a 19-0 run in the second half and matched their longest win streak of the season at six games heading into Wednesday's matchup with No. 2-ranked Augustana College.
In front by a 16-13 margin early in the affair, North Central went on an 8-2 run sparked by four points and an assist by Connor Raridon to take a 24-15 advantage with 9:23 on the first-half clock. The Vikings' Matt Szuba scored 10 points in a span of 3:19 to cut the lead to 30-27 with 3:58 to play in the half, but the Cardinals scored nine of the final 12 points of the period to take a 39-30 lead into halftime. Derek DeYoung played a lead role in the final minute, assisting on a Tommy Koth layup before driving for a bucket of his own just before the buzzer sounded.
Aaron Jones scored North Central's first five points of the second half, as his three-pointer gave the visitors their first double-digit lead at 44-34. North Park (4-16, 2-9 CCIW) rallied and closed the gap to 46-42 on a steal and layup by Cardell Simmons, but the Cardinals held the hosts scoreless for nearly seven minutes thereafter, extending their advantage to 65-42 and making four three-pointers in the process, three of which came from Mike Pollack in a span of less than two minutes. North Central led by at least 18 points the rest of the way.
The Cardinals shot 55.9 percent from the floor (33 of 59), a mark they have exceeded only once this season, and owned a 38-26 advantage in rebounding. Raridon finished with a game-high 20 points to go with seven rebounds, five assists and two steals, while Pollack scored 14 points and Koth and Matt Cappelletti each put up 12 points. Blaise Meredith grabbed a team-leading eight rebounds and Koth tied Raridon for the team lead in assists.
Vegard Tangen led North Park in scoring with 16 points. The Vikings also got 13 points from Szuba and 11 from Simmons.
The Cardinals take on Augustana on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. at Gregory Arena. Click HERE for links to live coverage, including a live video broadcast by Naperville Community Television, Channel 17.
