In a nip-and-tuck affair befitting of a matchup between fierce local rivals, the North Central College men's basketball team earned its first victory of the season the hard way, 82-79, over Benedictine University in the Battle of Chicago/Maple Avenue at Gregory Arena Tuesday evening.

The lead fluctuated wildly in both directions during the game, as the Cardinals trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half, then led by as many as 14 in the second period before Benedictine knotted the score at 79-79 with 16.7 seconds to play. North Central turned to Mike Pollack on the game's final possession, and the freshman sank a three-pointer from the left wing with 1.1 seconds to play to finally put the victory away.

A five-minute scoring drought early in the contest allowed the Eagles (0-3) to build a 12-4 lead, and the advantage grew to its largest at 38-23 with 3:11 left in the first half. Following a timeout, Pollack connected on a three-pointer off a pass from Erwin Henry, then fed Henry for a layup the next time down the floor to get the hosts going. Jack Bronec sank a pair of free throws, Pollack made two charity shots and a three-pointer in a 13-second span, and Henry sank a triple with 10 seconds left as the Cardinals' 15-2 run left Benedictine with just a 40-38 advantage heading into halftime.

The lead changed hands nine times in the first nine minutes of the second half before an 8-0 run, capped off by an inside basket by Connor Raridon and a jumper by Pollack on consecutive possessions, put North Central in front, 66-56. Two straight Pollack threes within 30 seconds of each other boosted the lead to its largest at 74-60 with 4:49 to play.

Trailing, 79-71, the Eagles opened their comeback effort with a three-pointer by Zach Gorney, and Brayden Olson came up with a steal and sank two free throws to leave the score at 79-76 with 1:13 left. Olson made one of two shots after a missed North Central shot the next time down the floor, and the Benedictine press produced a steal by Kejuan Glosson, who was fouled and made both shots with 16.7 seconds left.

Pollack's game-winner allowed the Cardinals to keep possession of the Bill Warden/Tony LaScala Trophy for the second straight year and pushed his scoring total to a team-high 25 points in 26 minutes off the bench. He connected on 8 of 11 shots from the floor, including 6 of 9 from three-point range. Henry finished with 20 points and eight assists, while Raridon totaled 16 points and eight rebounds. 

Olson finished with game-high 32 points on 10 of 15 shooting for the Eagles, who also got 13 points from Kenny Bogus and 11 from Gorney.

The Cardinals (1-1) travel to Honolulu, Hawaii this weekend for the Hoops in Hawaii Classic. North Central will play Whitworth University (Washington) on Friday and Lewis and Clark College (Oregon) on Saturday.