The North Central College men's basketball team turned to the most experienced player on its squad to close out its regular season with a win Saturday, and Kevin Honn responded with a career-best second-half scoring outburst to lead the Cardinals past North Park University, 84-74, at the North Park Gymnasium.

No. 12-ranked North Central (19-6, 12-2 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) completed a season sweep over its sixth CCIW opponent of the season and secured a fourth four-game winning streak during the current campaign as well. The Cardinals have qualified as the No. 2 seed in the upcoming CCIW Tournament.

Instrumental to the victory was the performance of four-year senior Kevin Honn, who poured in a career-high 29 points on 8 of 12 shooting from the floor (4 of 6 from three-point range) and 9 of 10 accuracy from the free-throw line. Honn, who posted the second-highest single-game scoring total by a North Central player this season, put up 26 of the Cardinals' 43 second-half points, including 12 of the team's final 14.

The Vikings (14-11, 6-8 CCIW), playing for a spot in the CCIW Tournament, opened the game on a 10-3 run, but North Central scored nine of the next 10 points and pulled ahead, 12-11, following Jagger Anderson's layup with 14:37 on the clock. North Park pulled ahead by scoring the next seven points, though the Cardinals countered with 10 in a row, including a three-point play from Connor Raridon and a three-point jumper from Jayme Moten, to move in front once again.

The Cardinals opened up a close game by scoring six straight points before halftime, as a fadeaway jumper by Raridon, a layup by Anderson and two free throws by Erwin Henry pushed the lead to 41-33 at halftime.

North Park opened the second half with a 12-3 run and retook the lead at 45-44 following Colin Lake's three-pointer with 16:48 to play. Honn followed by personally financing an 11-2 Cardinal run, sinking three baskets in the lane, a three-pointer and a pair of free throws in a span of just over three minutes. North Central gradually extended its lead to its largest at 70-54 with 7:46 to play following two Aiden Chang free throws. The Cardinals led by at least eight points the rest of the way, adding a second win over the Vikings to the 76-64 victory they posted in the first CCIW contest of the season on Jan. 2.

Raridon finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, while Moten put up 10 points. Moten sank 2 of 2 free throws to finish a perfect 33 for 33 in CCIW play, setting a new conference record for accuracy at the line. Moten is the only player in the conference's history to lead the CCIW with a perfect free-throw percentage.

T.J. Cobbs and Jordan Robinson paced North Park with 18 points each.

The Cardinals take on Elmhurst College (20-5, 10-4) in the semifinals of the CCIW Tournament on Friday at Augustana College, with tipoff at the Carver Center scheduled for 5:00 p.m.