Playing its first road game of the season against a nationally-ranked opponent, the North Central College men's basketball team proved more than ready for the occasion Saturday evening, bolting to a large early lead and defeating the 11th-ranked University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, 63-56, at Quandt Fieldhouse.

The Cardinals (4-0) stood tall on defense all night, particularly in the first half as they kept Stevens Point out of the free-throw lane and limited the Pointers to 14.8 percent accuracy (4 of 27) in the opening 20 minutes. Pacing North Central's effort was Charles Rosenberg, who tied a single-game school record with six blocked shots.

After scoring just four points in the first seven minutes of play, the Cardinals got going on offense when Jack Burchettscored on a putback before coming up with a steal and feeding Erwin Henry for a layup. Three-pointers by Rosenberg and Jayme Moten helped put North Central in front, 14-9, and started a 24-5 run that left the visitors with a commanding 32-13 advantage. Rosenberg scored 10 points in the rally, which spanned nearly 11 minutes and saw the Cardinals make 10 of 13 shots while Stevens Point missed 12 straight. North Central carried a 32-15 edge into halftime after shooting 61.9 percent (13-21) from the floor.

The lead grew as large as 19 points early in the second half, though the Pointers (3-2) were able to chip away at the lead and narrowed the gap to 56-51 following Jordan Lutz's three-pointer with 1:11 to play. North Central scored the next five points to squash the rally, capped off by a fast-break dunk by Rosenberg with 34 seconds to go.

North Central shot 53.5 percent (23-43) from the field and owned a 43-25 rebounding advantage. Rosenberg posted his second straight double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Moten put up 12 points. Joe Ritchay was the lone double-figure scorer for the Pointers with a game-high 21 points.

The Cardinals head to the west coast for two games next week, beginning with a Thursday contest at Pomona-Pitzer College (California). Tipoff at Voelkel Gymnasium is set for 7:30 p.m. Pacific time.