Just four days after setting the North Central College men's basketball program's all-time records for career and single-season assists, Connor Raridon quarterbacked the Cardinals to a hard-fought College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) road victory Wednesday evening, as North Central earned a 79-75 victory over Carthage College at Tarble Arena Wednesday evening to complete a season sweep of the Red Men.

Raridon scored or assisted on 31 of the Cardinals' 48 second-half points as North Central turned away a game comeback effort by the Red Men, improving to 8-1 in January. The Cardinals have won 12 of their last 13 games dating back to early December.

After the lead seesawed back and forth in the first seven minutes, North Central (15-5, 8-3 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) put together a 10-2 run to pull ahead. Aiden Chang knocked down a pull-up three-pointer, Tommy Koth converted a driving layup and Mike Pollack sank a three from the right wing before Raridon drove the lane for a layup and drilled a triple to give the Cardinals a 22-13 lead with 7:42 on the first-half clock. Carthage scored the final five points of the period over the final 1:38 to narrow the gap to 31-27 before the teams left the court for halftime.

The Red Men (11-8, 6-4 CCIW) rallied to take the lead at 36-35 early in the second half, but North Central responded with successive three-pointers by Chang, Matt Cappelletti and Blaise Meredith. Carthage punched back with a 13-3 surge and took a 52-39 lead with 11:54 to play, but Raridon bulled his way to the basket for a layup before assisting Alex Sorenson on a jumper to nudge the visitors back in front. Carthage's Kienan Baltimore tied the score up one final time at 55-55 with a three-pointer before Sorenson gave the Cardinals the lead for good with a pair of free throws and a jump hook in the lane. North Central stayed a step ahead the rest of the way, icing the victory by making 8 of 8 free throws in the final 3:22, the last four of which were converted by Pollack.

Sorenson put up 20 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots for the Cardinals, while Raridon finished with 18 points and recorded 10 assists, all of which came after halftime. Cappelletti added 16 points, hitting double figures for the fifth time in the past six games.

Baltimore led all scorers with 22 points on 9 of 12 shooting for Carthage, while Brad Kruse put up 21 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

North Central hosts North Park University (4-15, 1-10) on Saturday at Gregory Arena. Senior Night festivities will be observed prior to the 7:00 p.m. tipoff.