Tasked with the first of a series of must-win games, the North Central College men's basketball team proved equal to the challenge on Wednesday, nearly leading from wire to wire in a 66-59 defeat of 14th-ranked Augustana College at the Carver Center.

In avenging a 62-50 loss to Augustana from two weeks earlier, the Cardinals (10-9, 3-5 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) posted their highest field-goal shooting percentage (.565) in nearly a month and limited the Vikings to their lowest point total in CCIW play.

North Central opened the game by taking a 11-6 lead after five minutes before the Vikings (15-4, 5-3 CCIW) got a jumper from Kevin Schlitter and two inside baskets by Tayvian Johnson to tie the contest at 12-12 with 12:32 left in the first half. Jack Burchett came up with a steal and layup to get the Cardinals back in front, then added a driving left-handed layup before Vince Kmiec sank a layup on a backdoor pass from Landon Gamble and Kevin Honn knocked down a jumper to extend North Central's lead to 20-12 and prompt an Augustana timeout with 8:49 left in the first half.

The Vikings rallied and tied the score at 26-26 on Jawan Straughter's jumper with 2:07 on the clock. Burchett  beat the shot clock with a two-handed dunk to nudge the visitors back in front, but Schlitter countered with a pair of free throws with 35 seconds before the break to send the game into halftime tied at 28-28.

Augustana took its first lead on Hunter Hill's three-pointer early in the second period, and the teams passed the lead back and forth on each of the next five baskets. Gamble scored nine straight points in a span of just over two minutes to give the Cardinals a 41-35 advantage and Brandon Williams' jumper with 14:00 left gave North Central its largest lead to that point at eight points.

The lead was cut to 43-39 with 11:45 remaining, but two inside buckets from Gamble and a three-pointer by Pat Rourke gave the Cardinals their first double-digit lead at 50-39 with 8:54 left. Augustana was able to narrow the gap to 61-57 inside the final minute after three free throws by Griffin Pils and a three-pointer by Hill, but North Central converted 5 of 6 free throws in the last 27 seconds to seal the victory. The Cardinalshot 59.1 percent from the floor (13 of 22) and made 10 of 11 free throws in the final 20 minutes.

Gamble made 8 of 10 shots from the floor and finished with 22 points, his highest total in a CCIW game this season. He became the fifth player in North Central history to score at least 1,500 career points (1,519) and, with a career high-tying six assists, moved into 10th place all-time in career assists (192). Kmiec totaled 16 points and Burchett finished with 13 points and a team-best six rebounds. Hill put up 22 points and Johnson scored 15 for the Vikings.

The Cardinals host Carthage College (13-6, 6-2) on Saturday at Gregory Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.