Defense continued to be the calling card for the North Central College men's basketball team on Saturday, as the fifth-ranked Cardinals won their first road game of the season by shutting down a potent Trine University offensive attack and defeating the Thunder, 64-47, at Hershey Hall.

Facing a Trine squad which had averaged nearly 86 points per game in the early portion of the season, the Cardinals (5-0) limited the hosts to just 29.1 accuracy from the floor (16-55), including a pair of extended scoring droughts which enabled North Central to take control of the contests. The Cardinals have now held three of their first five opponents to less than 50 points.

The Thunder (3-2) led early before a layup and three-pointer by Aaron Tiknis and an inside bucket by Landon Gamble gave North Central its first lead at 12-7 with 10:59 on the first-half clock. The visitors maintained their lead through to halftime, holding Trine without a field goal for the final 4:03 of the period and heading into the locker room with a 28-21 advantage.

North Central opened the second half with layups by Gamble and Brandon Williams to take its first double-digit lead at 32-21, Trine's leading scorer, senior guard Ian Jackson, scored eight points in a 12-3 rally that narrowed the gap to 35-33, but the Cardinals responded soon after with a 13-0 surge which included two three-pointers from Tiknis and another by Vince Kmiec.

North Central owned its largest lead at 52-35 with 8:27 remaining. The Thunder were held without a field goal for 5:19 during the middle of the second period and the Cardinals led by at least 11 points the rest of the way.

The Cardinals shot 57.8 percent from the floor (26-45) and owned a 38-21 rebounding advantage which helped offset a season-high 23 turnovers. Tiknis turned in his first double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds, sharing the team lead in assists (5) with Derek Raridon, while Gamble finished with 16 points and 10 boards.

With 10 points, Raridon moved into eighth place in career scoring at North Central (1,306 points), and his five assists leave him ninth all-time (184).

Jackson, who averaged 25.0 points per game prior to Saturday's contest, finished with 21 points on 7 of 17 shooting. No other Trine player scored more than seven points.

The Cardinals travel to face Kalamazoo College (Mich.) on Sunday, with tipoff scheduled for 3 p.m. Eastern time. Links to live video, audio and in-game statistics can be found at northcentralcardinals.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball.