Bolstered by a season-best effort at the free-throw line and a sterling individual performance from senior forward Jack Burchett, the North Central College men's basketball team collected its third win in four games at Gregory Arena on Wednesday, completing a season sweep of Carthage College by defeating the Red Men, 65-61.

The Cardinals (17-6, 7-5 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) made a season-high 27 free throws on 30 attempts (90.0 percent), also enjoying its best accuracy from the charity stripe this season. Burchett led the way by making 12 of 14 free throws in addition to 7 of 11 field-goal attempts for a career-high 26 points. He also led North Central with nine rebounds, three assists, three blocked shots and two steals in 39 minutes.

North Central struggled to get untracked early and fell behind as the Red Men (7-15, 3-9 CCIW) led by as many as four points in the first few minutes. Trailing, 15-12, the hosts got six free throws on three separate two-shot trips by Burchett and a reverse layup from Kevin Honn to move in front, 20-15, and prompt a Carthage timeout with 6:31 left in the first half. The Cardinals owned a 26-22 advantage with three minutes before halftime, but went scoreless the rest of the period. The Red Men got a three-pointer and a layup from Mike Stevenson near the end of the half and went into the break with a 27-26 advantage. Carthage was permitted to shoot just 36.4 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, but the Cardinals were hampered by 12 turnovers.

Facing a 34-32 deficit early in the second period, North Central found its rhythm and put together an 11-0 run which wound up giving it the lead for good. Burchett opened the rally with a dunk and a pass to Erwin Henry for a jumper, andBrandon White came up with a steal and layup with 15:16 on the clock which was followed by a Carthage timeout. The break in the action did little to slow the Cardinals' momentum, as Henry scored on the fast-break following a long rebound, and after a free throw from Burchett and two more from White, North Central owned a 43-34 advantage with 11:2 to play.

After making only 4 of their first 21 three-point attempts, the Red Men got three straight triples from backup guard Mike Kjeldsen, the third of which tied the score at 57-57 with 3:01 remaining. Burchett scored a go-ahead bucket in the lane, then came up with a steal and sank two free throws to restore the home team's lead to 61-57 with under a minute left. Carthage got a basket from Donte Logan to narrow the gap, but North Central made 4 of 6 free throws down the stretch to lock up the win, its first of the season to come after trailing at halftime.

White tied a career high with 10 points and grabbed a career-best eight rebounds. The Cardinals outrebounded Carthage, 34-27, improving their record to 14-0 when winning the battle on the boards. Kjeldsen was Carthage's lone double-figure scorer with 11 points.

North Central travels to face 25th-ranked Elmhurst College (18-5, 8-4) on Saturday, with tipoff at R.A. Faganel Hall set for 4:00 p.m. The Cardinals will be looking to avenge a 66-57 loss to the Bluejays which came on Jan. 17.