The North Central College men's basketball team will play for a College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament Championship for the first time since 2006 on Saturday after overcoming a slow start on offense and emerging late to post a 63-56 semifinal victory over Augustana College in Friday's semifinal at Gregory Arena.

The Cardinals (19-7) closed the game with an 11-3 run and improved to 12-1 at home, establishing a new school single-season record for home victories.

18th-ranked Augustana (19-7) scored the game's first seven points and the Cardinals trailed throughout the early going while missing six of their first seven shots. A 6-0 run consisting of two inside baskets by Derek Raridon and two free throws from Landon Gamble gave North Central its first lead at 15-13, and the lead changed hands three times before a 23-23 tie with 2:41 to go before halftime.

The Vikings tacked on seven straight points in just over a minute, but North Central closed with seven points of its own in the final seconds, tying the score at 30-30 just before halftime on Gamble's layup.

The score was tied three times in the first six minutes of the second period. The Cardinals got a three-point play by Aaron Tiknis and a three-pointer from Raridon to take their largest lead to that point at 45-39, and stayed in front until Augustana scored six points in a row and pulled ahead, 53-52, on two Bryant Voiles free throws with 4:01 left.

Tiknis knocked down a three-pointer from the left side to nudge the hosts in front once again, but Voiles countered with a layup to tie the game for the ninth time. Voiles' bucket, however, turned out to be the Vikings' final field goal, as North Central scored eight of the final nine points. The Cardinals forced Augustana to come up empty on its final four possessions, and Vince Kmiec broke the full-court press for layup and Kevin Gillespie sank a pair of free throws in the final 24 seconds to seal the victory.

Raridon finished with a game-high 18 points, while Gamble added 15 and Tiknis finished with 10 points and eight rebounds. Gillespie totaled six assists, moving into the North Central career top 10 in that category. North Central set a single-game school record for free-throw accuracy, making 93.8 percent (15-16) of their charity shots.

Voiles and Brian DeSimone were Augustana's top scorers with 11 points each, while Brandon Kunz finished with nine points and 11 rebounds. The Vikings were limited to 30.8 percent shooting (8-26) in the second half.

North Central will take on 22nd-ranked Wheaton College (21-5), a 69-56 winner over Illinois Wesleyan University on Friday, in Saturday's championship game. The contest will be televised live on Naperville Community Television, Channel 17 and nctv17.com, and will also feature a live audio broadcast on North Central's campus radio station, 89.1 FM WONC, and wonc.org. Live in-game statistics will be available at sidearmstats.com/ncc/mbball.