The North Central College men's basketball team waited more than two months for another chance to take on Illinois Wesleyan University after the Titans left Gregory Arena with a 68-66 victory in December. The Cardinals claimed an 83-74 victory over IWU in both teams' regular-season finale at the Shirk Center on Tuesday, setting up a third encounter in just three day's time as the two teams will meet in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament semifinals.

North Central (18-7, 11-5 CCIW) threatened to put Tuesday's game away early, scoring the game's first 10 points and taking a 20-4 lead after nine minutes had elapsed. Matt Cappelletti was the catalyst for the Cardinals in the early going, scoring 10 of the team's first 15 points, and IWU managed to make just one of its first 11 shots from the floor. A 7-0 run allowed the Titans to establish a rhythm on offense, and the hosts gradually whittled the lead down to a 40-34 margin by halftime. 

IWU kept chipping away after play resumed in the second half, closing to within a single point on five occasions before Alex O'Neill's jumper in the lane gave the home team its first and only lead with 10:03 to play. The Cardinals responded on their next possession with Connor Raridon feeding Mike Pollack for a three-pointer from the right corner. O'Neill sank two free throws on the other end to knot the score at 56-56, but North Central followed with a 7-0 surge which restored its lead to 63-56 and prompted a Titan timeout with 7:34 remaining. Cappelletti began the rally with a layup off a pass from Raridon, and Alex Sorenson scored on a jump hook in the post before a Cappelletti offensive rebound led to another three-pointer by Pollack, who went 4 for 4 from beyond the arc in the game.

Following the break in the action, Sorenson scored again in the paint and Raridon drove for a layup to extend North Central's advantage to 67-56. IWU (19-6, 12-4 CCIW) slowed the Cardinals' progress with three-pointers from Miles Curry and Brady Rose, but Sorenson scored the game's next five points to keep the guests clear of any last-minute drama. North Central connected on 9 of 10 free-throw attempts in the final 2:24 to secure a victory at the Shirk Center for the third straight year.

Sorenson led all scorers with 22 points on 10 of 17 shooting, while Raridon finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. Pollack put up 17 points and Cappelletti finished with 14. The Cardinals shot 51.8 percent (29 of 56) from the floor and owned a 40-25 rebounding advantage.

Rose led the Titans with 17 points, while Curry put up 15 off the bench.

The Cardinals will face IWU in the first CCIW Tournament semifinal matchup on Friday at Augustana College, with tipoff scheduled for 5:00 p.m. Wheaton College will take on Augustana in the other semifinal at 7:00, with the two winners to square off in Saturday's championship game, also at Augustana, at 7:00 p.m. Saturday. The winner of the tournament will earn the CCIW's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship.