The race for first place in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin men's basketball standings now stands in a three-way tie after Tuesday evening, as North Central College used a record amount of production from the free-throw line and a career-high scoring effort from sophomore forwardCharlie Rosenberg to defeat 17th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University, 82-69, at Gregory Arena.

The Cardinals (10-6, 4-1 CCIW) dealt IWU its first conference loss and now sit in a tie with Wheaton College and the Titans atop the CCIW standings. North Central improved to 8-0 at home and has now won both of its games against top-25 ranked teams this season.

The hosts made a living at the charity stripe all evening long, making 37 of 43 attempts (86.0 percent) to establish a new single-game school record for free throws made. The Cardinals were particularly proficient at the line in the second half, making 25 of 29 shots.

North Central made its first four shots from the floor and opened the game with a 12-2 run over the first four minutes of play. The Cardinals stayed in control throughout the rest of the first half, shooting 65.0 percent (13-20) from the floor and leading by as many as 17 points before heading into halftime with a 42-28 advantage.

The Titans (13-3) made a bid to get back into contention midway through the second half, as three-pointers by Eliud Gonzalez and Stephen Rudnicki and a steal and dunk by Eric Dortsch cut the North Central lead to 63-54 with 7:11 to play. The Cardinals responded by scoring eight of the next nine points, including 6 of 6 free throws. The home team led by double digits the rest of the way, as Kevin Gillespie made six straight free throws and Vince Kmiec was 4 for 4 from the line in the final two minutes of play.

The Cardinals shot a season-high 55.6 percent (20-36) from the floor in the contest and matched their second-highest scoring total of the campaign. Rosenberg made 7 of 9 shots in putting up a career-high 16 points in 16 minutes off the bench, leading all scorers. CJ Goldthree, back in the lineup after missing the previous four games due to injury, turned in 13 points in 17 minutes, whileLandon Gamble added 12 and Gillespie scored 11. Aaron Tiknis led North Central with seven rebounds, six assists and four blocked shots. 

Illinois Wesleyan was led by Gonzalez's 15 points, as John Koschnitzky added 11 and Jordan Zimmer and Kevin Reed each scored 10. 

The Cardinals travel to face Millikin University (1-15, 0-5) on Saturday. Tipoff at the Griswold Center is scheduled for 7 p.m.