Faced with the task of slowing down one of the higher-powered offensive teams in the nation, the North Central College men's basketball team put the brakes on the College of Wooster just well enough to secure a 77-72 victory over the Scots in the first round of the NCAA Division III Championship at Collier Arena.

The Cardinals (18-10) advance to the second round of the tournament on Saturday, with tipoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Eastern time, against the winner of Friday's first-round contest between Hanover College and Westminster College.

Wooster came in with a season average of more than 85 points per game, and the Cardinals came in with a game plan focused on keeping the Scots out of the lane and limiting the exploits of leading scorer Dan Fanelly, Wooster's leading scorer at 19.2 points per game.

"I thought we definitely had to control (Fanelly)," said North Central head coach Todd Raridon. "He's a terrific player and you saw what he can do. We really did not want him to get the ball, and we wanted to stop their dribble penetration. We were fortunate that they didn't shoot the ball well from the three-point line."

The Cardinals never trailed in the game, and owned a 16-8 advantage with 13:34 left in the first half after a layup by Matt Cappelletti, a fast-break three-pointer by Alex Sorenson and a pair of free throws by Erwin Henry during a three-minute scoreless stretch for Wooster. North Central took its largest lead at 36-27 on Jagger Anderson's tip-in with 2:12 on the clock, but the Scots scored the final seven points of the period to narrow the gap to 36-34 at the break.

Henry got the Cardinals rolling after halftime with a putback and a three-pointer off a steal by Anderson, and back-to-back three-pointers from Sorenson and Henry gave North Central its largest lead of the evening at 51-40 with 13:04 to play. The Scots countered with their strongest challenge for the lead, going on a 13-3 run to trail by just a 54-53 count with 8:59 left.

The teams traded baskets before the Cardinals hassled Wooster into another three-minute dry spell, during which time Anderson drove the lane for a pair of contested layups to extend the lead to 60-55. Anderson locked up the victory in the final two minutes, hitting a three-pointer and a pair of free throws and also beating the Scots' press for a trio of layups, two by Aiden Chang and another by Cappelletti, in the final 1:20.

The Cardinals made 10 three-pointers in the game, giving them a single-season school-record 202 triples this season. The previous record of 201 was set by the 2015-2016 team.

"I think the guys are in spots where they're comfortable shooting those shots," Raridon said. "It's helped that Jagger's stepped up. He's played terrific the last 10 games or so, and he's been a big part of our success. We're making good decisions, making the extra pass, and guys are hitting open shots."

Henry paced the Cardinals in scoring with 20 points on 6 of 7 shooting from the floor, while Anderson finished with 17 points and eight rebounds and tied the North Central single-game record with 10 assists. Sorenson totaled 16 points and eight boards, while Cappelletti scored 14 points.

Wooster (21-8) was led by Fanelly's 23 points and seven rebounds. Reece Dupler scored 15 points and Spencer Williams totaled 11.