Constructing an overwhelming second-half run with stifling defense and timely shooting, the North Central College men's basketball team improved to 9-0 at home on Wednesday with a 66-44 victory over Millikin University at Gregory Arena.

After heading into halftime tied at 29-29, the fifth-ranked Cardinals (15-1, 4-1 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) blew the game open with a 35-9 run which spanned nearly 14 minutes and wound up limiting Millikin (7-9, 3-2 CCIW) to just 15 points on 5 of 23 shooting in the final 20 minutes.

Featuring a starting lineup consisting solely of freshmen, the Big Blue hung tough early in a first half which featured four lead changes. Millikin took its largest lead at 20-16 with 7:12 left in the first half, but the Cardinals held the visitors scoreless for the next four minutes, scoring nine straight points to move back in front, 25-20. Derek Raridon scored seven points in the rally.

North Central held a 29-24 lead with 1:24 left in the opening period before the Big Blue closed quickly and tied the game at the halftime buzzer on Tommy Pilackas' running one-hander. 

After giving up the opening basket of the second half, the Cardinals kept Millikin from scoring again for nearly six minutes, tallying 18 straight points during that time including two straight three-pointers from Vince Kmiec which kickstarted the surge. North Central kept the pressure on until it owned its largest lead at 64-38 with 6:20 to play. 

The Cardinals wound up outscoring Millikin, 37-15, after halftime, paced by Kmiec, who scored 17 of his 18 points in the second period. The junior made five of eight three-pointers in the final 20 minutes and also finished the game with six rebounds, six assists and four steals while tying Landon Gamble for game-high scoring honors.

Raridon added 16 points and Jack Burchett totaled 10 points and 10 rebounds to post his first career double-double for the Cardinals, who owned a 36-28 rebounding advantage and limited Millikin to 34.8 percent shooting.

The Big Blue were paced by Trent Windemuller's eight points, while Deavis Johnson finished with 10 rebounds.

North Central travels to face North Park University (6-10, 1-4) on Saturday. Tipoff at North Park Gymnasium is set for 4 p.m.