Playing in what had been the toughest arena in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) to pick up a win in recent years, the North Central College men's basketball team ended a four-year run of frustration at Wheaton College's King Arena on Saturday, erasing a seven-point second-half deficit and dominating down the stretch in overtime to claim a 75-70 victory over the Thunder.

The 10th-ranked Cardinals (13-1, 3-0 CCIW) won for the seventh straight game and earned their first win on Wheaton's home floor since a 79-67 triumph on Jan. 29, 2011. The four-year drought had been North Central's longest on the road in conference competition. 

For the second straight contest, North Central was led by the efforts of Charles Rosenberg, who notched a career high in scoring for the second consecutive game with 27 points while also contributing a career-best 14 rebounds and four steals. He scored the Cardinals' final basket of the overtime period and drew a charge on Wheaton's last possession to seal the victory.

As he did in Wednesday's 62-46 victory at Millikin University, Rosenberg figured heavily in North Central's scoring early in the game. He scored seven points in the first six minutes as the Cardinals built a 13-7 lead. Wheaton (7-7, 0-3) switched to a zone defense soon thereafter in an attempt to slow the visitors down, though North Central was still able to extend its lead to 10 points on two occasions. The Thunder were able to narrow the gap to 30-26 by halftime, getting a three-pointer from Caleb DeMoss and two free throws from Brayden Teuscher in the final 1:36. Rosenberg totaled 14 points and eight rebounds in the opening 20 minutes.

Wheaton took the lead for the first time early in the second half, as back-to-back three-pointers from Joel Smith and Jonathan Bernstein pushed the hosts in front, 40-37, with 14:14 to play. The Thunder extended their lead to its largest at seven points for the first time when a jumper by Smith and a three-pointer by Michael Berg left the score at 56-49 with 6:51 left. Erwin Henry and Rosenberg followed with baskets in the paint before Rosenberg tacked on a pair of free throws to narrow the gap to a single point at 56-55, but Teuscher self-financed a 6-0 Wheaton surge to restore the Thunder's lead to 62-55 with 4:18 to go.

Henry and Jayme Moten shot the Cardinals back into contention with consecutive three-pointers, and Rosenberg's baseline jumper off a pass from Henry gave North Central the lead once again at 63-62 with 2:26 on the clock. Berg converted a putback with 1:54 to play and Rosenberg tied the score at 64-64 with a free throw, and both teams came up empty on their next two possessions before Peter Smith's desperation three-point attempt fell off the mark at the buzzer.

Moten opened the overtime session with a three-pointer, though Wheaton responded with a layup by Berg and a jumper by Joel Smith to pull ahead once again at 68-67. Rosenberg scored inside on a pass from Jack Burchett on the next possession and Moten followed with his sixth three-pointer of the night to provide the guests with a 72-6 edge with 1:37 to play. Peter Smith sank two free throws for the Thunder and had a three-point attempt to put Wheaton back in front, but the errant shot was rebounded by Moten and Rosenberg wound up scoring on a putback with 10 seconds left to put the Cardinals firmly in control with a 74-70 lead before taking a charge on Wheaton's final scoring opportunity.

Moten complemented Rosenberg's efforts with 22 points, while Henry scored 12 and Burchett finished with 10 points, nine rebounds and a team-best six assists. Teuscher scored 18 points and Berg turned in 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Thunder.

North Central hosts No. 2-ranked Augustana College on Wednesday, with tipoff at Gregory Arena set for 7 p.m. The Vikings improved to 13-1 overall and 3-0 in the CCIW with an 88-51 victory over North Park University on Saturday.