Three nights after putting away a victory with an overwhelming effort in the first half, the North Central College men's basketball team rolled to a second straight win with a dominant second-half performance, completing a season sweep of rival Wheaton College with a 69-55 conquest of the Thunder at Gregory Arena Saturday evening.

After trailing at halftime, 34-33, the Cardinals (11-8, 5-5 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) seized control quickly after play resumed, pulling ahead with a 15-2 scoring run and limiting Wheaton to 29.6 percent shooting (8 of 27) from the floor in the final 20 minutes.

The hosts got the game's pivotal rally started with Erwin Henry's three-pointer, which tied the score at 38-38 with 18:06 on the clock. North Central held the Thunder scoreless for the next four minutes, tacking on a free throw by Jagger Anderson and jump shots from Henry and Alex Sorenson, before Wheaton's Zach Kvam slowed the momentum briefly by sinking a jumper in the lane.

The Cardinals, however, countered with another 10 straight points. Sorenson and Matt Cappelletti scored inside before Jaquan Phipps came up with a steal and charged to the basket for a layup, drawing a foul to complete a three-point play. Sorenson added a free throw before grabbing an offensive rebound and feeding Phipps for a layup to extend the lead to 53-40 with 9:20 on the clock.

Wheaton (8-10, 4-5 CCIW) managed to work the margin down to seven points at 57-50 with 4:43 left, but the Cardinals put the contest out of reach as Aiden Chang bookended a 9-0 run with a tip-in and a three-pointer. 

Chang led all scorers with 15 points, while Anderson and Sorenson each scored 12. Cappelletti grabbed 10 rebounds, putting him in double digits on the boards for the fourth straight game, and Henry delivered a game-high five assists. 

Aston Francis, who entered the contest at the CCIW's leading scorer at 24.2 points per game, was the Thunder's lone double-figure scorer with 13.

The Cardinals host Carroll University (11-8, 6-4) on Wednesday, with tipoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m.