The North Central College men's basketball team leaned on one of its captains in Tuesday evening's game at Elmhurst College, asDerek Raridon took the game into his own hands down the stretch and helped guide the Cardinals to a 70-59 victory at R.A. Faganel Hall.

Raridon put up a game-high 30 points, the highest single-game total by a North Central player this season, and scored all of the Cardinals' points in a game-deciding 11-3 run in late in the second half. North Central won its fifth straight game and remained in first place in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) standings.

The Cardinals (14-6, 8-1 CCIW) got early three-pointers from Raridon and Vince Kmiec to take an 8-4 lead after five minutes, but Elmhurst knocked down back-to-back threes to launch a 10-2 run that gave the hosts a 14-10 lead wih 12:22 on he first-half clock. Charlie Rosenberg converted a putback then stole the ball and fedCJ Goldthree for a layup to tie the score, but the Bluejays countered with two straight baskets of their own and stayed in front until Aaron Tiknis scored six straight points and North Central regained the lead, 24-21.

Elmhurst's Zack Boyd canned a three-pointer to tie the score for the fifth time in the opening period, 24-24, and the score was knotted again at 28-28 near the end of the half. Tiknis scored again on the inside to nudge the Cardinals back in front, and Ryan Broyles sank a layup off a pass from Kevin Gillespie on the final possession of the period to give North Central a 32-28 edge at the break.

The Cardinals never surrendered the lead in the second half, but never led by more than seven points. Elmhurst's Nick Sanford scored five points in a row and cut the home team's deficit to 55-54 with 6:24 remaining. Gillespie made two free throws to regain some breathing room for North Central, but D'Ante Foster's putback drew the Bluejays to within a single point once again with 5:19 to play.

Raridon started his self-financed rally wih two free throws, then made a three-pointer after an Elmhurst turnover to increase the lead to 62-56. The Bluejays got a tip-in from Boyd with 3:20 remaining which turned out to be the final field goal for the hosts. Raridon negated Boyd's bucket with a jumper of his own on the next trip down the floor, then made a basket from the outside and sank two more free throws in a 23-second span to put the contest out of reach.

Raridon made 8 of 11 shots from the floor and 11 of 12 free throws in the game, along with a perfect 3 for 3 effort from behind the three-point line. Kmiec put up nine points for the Cardinals, while Tiknis and Broyles each scored eight. Tiknis also led North Central with six rebounds and six assists. 

Elmhurst (10-10, 4-5 CCIW) got 14 points and nine rebounds from Sanford, while Foster scored 11 points and Boyd added 10.

The Cardinals host 15th-ranked Augustana College (15-5, 6-3) on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.