The North Central College men's basketball team's quest for an eighth straight victory called for a dogged 40-minute defensive effort Saturday evening, and the Cardinals delivered the goods as they rallied down the stretch and defeated Wheaton College, 75-66, in front of a boisterous crowd at Gregory Arena.

North Central (11-4, 5-2 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) entered the game as the CCIW leader in fewest points allowed per game in conference play (65.5), but was faced with the task of slowing down a Wheaton squad which not only sat atop the CCIW standings heading into the contest, but also averaged a league-best 89.3 points per game.

Leading the Thunder's charge was junior guard Aston Francis, who ranked fifth nationally in scoring (27.7 points per game) prior to the start of play and had averaged more than 34 points per game in conference play. Facing determined defense, primarily from Aiden Chang and Blaise Meredith, Francis did manage a game-high 31 points on 10 of 26 shooting (8 of 18 from three-point range), but was held scoreless for the final 8:06, when the hosts put a lock on the Wheaton basket and took the lead for good.

Making five of its first six shots from the floor, Wheaton (11-4, 5-2 CCIW) took a 13-4 lead early in the contest and stayed in front until a three-pointer by Alex Sorenson and an inside jumper by Connor Raridon enabled the Cardinals to tie the score at 28-28. The lead changed hands five times in the next three minutes, and the Thunder held a 41-38 advantage in the final seconds of the first half before Mike Pollack's three-pointer sent the teams into the break tied, 41-41.

Wheaton maintained a slim lead through much of the early going in the second half before the Cardinals took the lead on Sorenson's layup with 10:55 to play. The Thunder's Ricky Samuelson knocked down a jumper, which was answered on the other end by two Raridon free throws, before Francis drove the lane for a layup and canned a three-pointer to put the visitors in front, 61-57.

Francis' triple wound up being Wheaton's last field goal for more than seven minutes, during which time North Central harassed the Thunder into nine missed shots from the field and four turnovers. The Cardinals tied the score at 61-61 on Pollack's two free throws with 5:02 to play, then got two inside baskets from Sorenson and another from Raridon to go up, 67-61, with 2:17 to play.

Sorenson created his own shot in the lane to extend the lead to 69-62 with just over a minute left, and Erwin Henry sealed the win by making 6 of 6 free throws in the final 41 seconds of play. 

Sorenson finished the night with 19 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots, while Henry scored 15 (including a 9 of 9 effort at the charity stripe), Matt Cappelletti totaled 13 and Pollack contributed 11. Raridon posted a game-high six assists.

The Cardinals host Finlandia University (3-10) in non-conference play on Tuesday, with tipoff scheduled for 6:00 p.m.