Exploiting its size advantage in the post and employing a balanced attack on offense, the North Central College men's basketball team improved to 3-0 on Friday by neutralizing Aurora University's uptempo style of play and defeating the Spartans, 88-78, at Gregory Arena.

Just as it had in three previous games this season, Aurora came out firing from three-point range, making 13 of 27 attempts. The Spartans shot 57.1 percent from the floor in a second half which saw them cut a 10-point halftime lead to as few as three. The Cardinals countered by outrebounding Aurora, 43-23, and putting five players in double figures in the scoring column to remain unbeaten.

North Central (3-0) pulled in front in the first half due to the hot shooting of Aiden Chang, who scored 13 points in a 17-2 run which put the hosts ahead, 28-16. The lead grew as large as 16 points before the Spartans closed the gap to 47-37 by halftime as junior guard Pat Kramp made three of his five first-half three-pointers in the final four minutes of play. 

Using a mix of dribble-drives to the basket and three-point shooting, Aurora (2-2) kept the game close through the early going in the second half, as Jovon Griffin's three-pointer left the Spartans trailing by just a 56-53 count with 14:43 to play. North Central responded with jump shots from Connor Raridonand Alex Sorenson to keep the visitors at bay, and Sorenson later scored on consecutive possessions to yield a 70-60 cushion with 8:32 remaining.

Aurora's Ty Carlson scored inside, then sank a three-pointer on the next trip down the floor to cut the lead to 70-65, but Chang sank two free throws and Raridon beat the shot clock with a three-pointer to restore the hosts' advantage and the Cardinals led by at least eight points the rest of the way.

North Central enjoyed its best shooting of the young season thus far, making 32 of 59 shots (54.2 percent) from the floor. Raridon led all scorers with 23 points and added a career-high nine assists, while Chang and Erwin Henry each scored 19, marking a career high for Chang. Sorenson tallied 12 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots, while freshman Sam Fehrle notched his first collegiate double-figure outing with 10 points.

Kramp finished with 17 points for Aurora, which also got 16 points from Griffin, 14 from Carlson and 12 from Max Vickers.

The Cardinals host the University of Wisconsin-Platteville (3-1) on Tuesday. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m.