An impressive show of force in the early going gave the North Central College men's basketball team all the momentum it needed Wednesday evening, as the 23rd-ranked Cardinals steamrolled the homestanding Carthage College Red Men, 85-54, at Tarble Arena.
 
With the win, North Central (19-5, 11-4 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) clinched the No. 2 seed in next week's CCIW Tournament, allowing the Cardinals to bypass the opening round of the event which expands from four to six teams for the first time this season.
 
Leading North Central's effort throughout the night was Blaise Meredith, who tied a career high with 22 points while also grabbing 14 rebounds to achieve his first career double-double. The Cardinals' margin of victory is its largest in CCIW play this season.
 
After allowing the game's opening basket, North Central scored the next 17 points over a six-minute stretch to put its stamp on the contest. Will Clausel, in the Cardinals' starting lineup for the first time since Jan. 2, fed Meredith and Connor Raridonfor the visitors' first two buckets before a Tommy Koth tip-in extended the lead to 6-2.
 
Raridon, Koth and Meredith hit three-pointers in succession before Clausel sank a jumper from the right wing to close the initial flurry. The Cardinals kept the pressure on to the end of the first half, scoring the final 10 points of the period on threes by Meredith and Derek DeYoung and four free throws in five attempts by Aaron Jones to take a 50-24 lead into halftime. North Central sank 10 of 19 three-point shots in the opening 20 minutes.
 
The visitors scored eight of the first 10 points of the second half, six of which came from Meredith, and never relented. The Cardinals led comfortably the rest of the way, improving to 9-1 in away games this season and completing a season sweep of Carthage for the second straight year.
 
North Central made 29 of 59 shots from the floor in the game (49.2 percent), including a 13 for 31 effort (41.9 percent) from three-point range. Raridon finished with 21 points and eight rebounds while Jones put up 10 points and five assists. Kienan Baltimore led Carthage (8-16, 3-12 CCIW) with 16 points.
 
The Cardinals close out the regular season on Saturday, traveling to R.A. Faganel Hall to take on Elmhurst College (12-12, 7-8). Tipoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.