Just three days removed from its most lopsided loss of the season, the North Central College men's basketball team showed a champion's resolve on Saturday, overcoming a sizable deficit late in the game and dictating terms in its first overtime period of the campaign in taking down archrival Illinois Wesleyan University, 96-89, at the Shirk Center.

Trailing, 73-59, with 5:56 left in the second half, the Cardinals (11-5, 4-1 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) outscored the hosts, 18-4, down the stretch before sinking a perfect 15 of 15 free throws in the extra session to seal the win, exorcising the demons of a 76-49 loss at No. 3-ranked Augustana College on Wednesday.

North Central was led to victory by the efforts of one of its freshmen, as Connor Raridon stepped to the forefront and continued a strong recent run of play. Raridon finished with career highs of 31 points and 15 rebounds, including a 14 of 15 effort at the free-throw line, to go with five assists. In his last three games, Raridon has averaged 24.7 points and 10 rebounds per contest.

The game was a back-and-forth affair in the early going, as the lead changed hands 10 times in the first 13 minutes. The Cardinals took a 24-23 lead on Jagger Anderson's jumper with 7:30 on the clock, but the Titans (9-7, 3-2 CCIW) responded with a 9-0 run which was capped off by Bryce Dolan's three-pointer with 3:32 before halftime and prompted a North Central timeout. Illinois Wesleyan maintained its lead through halftime, taking a 40-34 lead into the locker room after a half during which it turned the ball over only once.

The hosts remained a step ahead throughout most of the second half, taking their largest lead at 73-59 when Joel Pennington's jumper capped an 8-2 run. The Cardinals were dealt another blow with 5:20 to play as leading scorer Alex Sorenson picked up his fifth foul after netting 16 points on 7 of 14 shooting. North Central trailed by a 76-68 count when Jayme Moten got the comeback effort started by sinking a three-pointer, then coming up with a steal and feeding Jagger Anderson for a layup within a 36-second span to cut the lead to 76-73 with 2:22 to play.

The Cardinals tied the contest at 76-76 when Raridon knocked down a three-pointer from the left corner with 39 seconds to play. IWU's Trevor Seibring was fouled and went to the free-throw line with 17.1 seconds to play. He made the first shot but missed the second, though the ball went out of bounds off a North Central player and the Cardinals were forced to foul once again. Ryan Coyle was fouled and missed the first shot of the one-and-bonus, and Raridon was fouled grabbing the rebound. Raridon made one of his two shots at the other end, tying the score once again, and the game went to overtime when Pennington's buzzer-beating three-point attempt fell short.

North Central pulled ahead on the first possession of overtime and never looked back, as Jagger Anderson came through with a three-point play. The Cardinals attempted only two other field goals the rest of the game, making 12 of 12 free throws in the final 1:12 as they finished the night a season-best 21 of 24 at the charity stripe (87.5 percent).

The Cardinals rallied to win after facing a halftime deficit for the third time this season. Raridon's scoring and rebounding totals are both single-game bests in his young collegiate career. Moten finished with 18 points and a career-high six assists, while Kevin Honn put up 14 points and Anderson totaled 13.

Seibring finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Titans, who also got 19 points from Pennington, 15 from Dolan and 10 from Alec Bausch. 

North Central hosts Carthage College (7-9, 1-4) on Wednesday. Tipoff at Gregory Arena is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.