The 10th home win of the season was a difficult one for the North Central College men's basketball team on Wednesday, as the Cardinals fought off some frigid shooting and stepped up their defensive effort in the second half to improve to 10-0 at Gregory Arena with a 60-52 victory over Carthage College.

The win avenged an earlier loss this season for the Cardinals (17-3, 6-3 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin), who prevailed despite facing their largest halftime deficit (32-24) of the season and shooting just 35.7 percent (15-42) from the floor. North Central did, however, knock down 28 of 38 free throws (73.7 percent) and limit the Red Men to 20 points on 4 of 22 shooting in the second period.

North Central opened the game focusing its efforts on feeding the ball into the post to Landon Gamble, who responded by scoring the evening's first six points. The Cardinals led until a 6-0 Carthage run netted the visitors' first lead at 15-12 with 11:16 on the first-half clock. The Red Men extended their lead to as much as 10 points late in the first period before Pat Rourke's buzzer-beating jumper left the score at 32-24 in Carthage's favor.

The Cardinals' comeback began in earnest after five minutes had elapsed in the second half, as Derek Raridon's three-point play slashed the deficit to 36-33. With 13:57 to play, Rourke was fouled on a three-point attempt and sank all three free throws to knot the score at 36-36. 

The game was tied five more times during the second period, though North Central never trailed. The Red Men leveled the score for the final time at 52-52 after Tyler Pierce's free throw with 2:36 to play. Carthage was held scoreless from then on, missing its final six field-goal attempts which each came from three-point range. The Cardinals scored the game's final eight points in 12 attempts at the charity stripe.

Gamble finished with a game-high 21 points, including a 9 of 10 effort at the free-throw line, while Raridon turned in 15 points. Aaron Tiknis grabbed a game-best 11 rebounds and Rourke handed out three assists.

Carthage (10-10, 5-4 CCIW) was paced by Reese Herth's 12 points.

The Cardinals host Elmhurst College (4-16, 0-9) on Saturday, looking to complete a season sweep of the Bluejays. TIpoff at Gregory Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m.