Faced with a halftime deficit for just the second time this season, the North Central College men's basketball team withstood a prolific three-point shooting barrage and wore a path to the free-throw line in remaining unbeaten with a 80-72 victory over the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in the D3hoops.com Classic at South Point Arena.

The Cardinals (11-0) completed just the second unbeaten run through non-conference play in the program's history, establishing season highs for free throws made (33) and attemped (38), putting up 54 second-half points and owning a 36-18 advantage in rebounding.

UW-La Crosse (8-3) did not trail at any point in the first half, forcing 10 Cardinal turnovers and making 7 of 16 three-pointers. The Eagles took their largest lead at 32-23 with 1:57 left in the first half, but North Central got two free throws fromDerek Raridon and another from Jack Burchett to narrow the gap to 32-26 by halftime.

North Central trailed until 10:40 remained, when Raridon completed a three-point play and scored off an assist by Charlie Rosenberg on successive possessions to move the Cardinals in front, 50-47. Aaron Tiknis followed with two straight three-pointers and Vince Kmiec broke free for a layup to put North Central in front, 58-47, and complete a 10-0 scoring run which lasted nearly three minutes.

The Cardinals made 15 consecutive free throws down the stretch to stay in front and negate five UW-La Crosse three-pointers. Tiknis made 11 of the successful charity shots, who scored a game-high 20 points and made 12 of 12 free throws total.

North Central shot 59.5 percent (22-37) from the floor in the game in addition to its season-best 86.8 percent accuracy at the line. Raridon added 19 points, making 10 of 11 free throws, and Landon Gamble added 18 points while Kmiec grabbed a career-high eight rebounds.

The Eagles, who made 14 of 35 three-pointers in the contest, got 20 points from Lucas Morrissey and 17 from Braden Tice. 

The Cardinals open College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) play on Wednesday at Elmhurst College (4-7). Tipoff at R.A. Faganel Hall is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.