Treating the home crowd to a strong performance in its first game at Gregory Arena on Wednesday, the North Central College men's basketball team improved to 2-0 on the young season by conquering Alma College, 78-59.

The Cardinals had four starters score in double figures, led by Connor Raridon, who delivered game highs of 24 points, 10 rebounds and six assists while making 10 of 13 shots from the floor. It was Raridon's fifth career double-double.

North Central put itself in the driver's seat early with an 18-2 run over the course of seven minutes early in the first half. Raridon scored eight points in the rally, including a three-point shot and a three-point play, and his jump shot with 10:17 on the clock pushed the score to 24-9 in the hosts' favor. The Cardinals led by a 36-28 count with time winding down before Jagger Anderson scored twice and Raridon canned a buzzer-beating three-pointer to give North Central a 43-28 advantage at halftime.

The Cardinals were not threatened after the break, leading by as many as 24 points down the stretch. Erwin Henry finished with 17 points and five assists, while Alex Sorenson put up 16 points and seven rebounds and Anderson scored 10 points. 

Alma (1-3) was led by Tyler Edwards' 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Chase Fairchild scored 12 points.

The Cardinals return to action Friday, hosting Aurora University (2-1) at 2:00 p.m.