A late first-half surge helped the North Central College men's basketball team shake off a two-game losing streak at King Arena Saturday evening, as the Cardinals defeated Wheaton College, 72-55, to record their fourth straight season sweep of the Thunder.

North Central (17-7, 10-5 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) won its ninth straight game over Wheaton, paced by the efforts of junior guard Aiden Chang, who set a season high in scoring for the second straight game with 20 points on 8 of 10 shooting (4 of 6 from three-point range). The Cardinals had four players score in double figures and led for the final 24:47 of the 40-minute contest.

North Central led by as many as nine points in the early going before the Thunder (17-7, 10-5 CCIW) scored nine straight points to pull in front, 21-17, with 9:14 left in the first half. The Cardinals got back in front when Chang knocked down a three-pointer and converted a layup within a 20-second span. After Wheaton's Luke Peters came up with a steal and layup, North Central closed the first period with an 11-0 run over the final 3:48 and went into halftime with a 41-29 advantage.

The visitors extended their lead to 19 points early in the second half before Wheaton put together a 13-1 run in a span of 5:37 to cut the lead to 53-46 on Zack Kvam's three-pointer with 7:18 to play. After a timeout, the Cardinals scored six points in the next minute to build their lead back up to double digits as Connor Raridon sank two free throws and Tommy Koth fed Matt Cappelletti for a fast-break layup before driving for an inside score of his own. North Central led by at least 11 points the rest of the way.

The Cardinals' defense hounded Wheaton into 29.3 percent shooting (17 of 58), including just a 3 for 26 effort from three-point range. Cappelletti scored 16 points, while Raridon finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and six assists and Alex Sorenson scored 10 points.

Aston Francis led Wheaton with 20 points despite a 5 of 24 shooting performance (1 of 13 from beyond the three-point arc). Kvam and Kobe Eichelberger each scored 10 points for the Thunder.

Having already clinched a spot in the upcoming CCIW Tournament, the Cardinals close out the regular season on Tuesday at No. 23-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University (19-5, 12-13). Tipoff the Shirk Center is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.