A deadly-efficient eight-minute stretch of play was enough to help the North Central College men's basketball team break open a close game at Gregory Arena Saturday evening, as the Cardinals improved to 5-0 with a 75-64 victory over Millikin University in both teams' first College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) contest of the season.

After heading into halftime with a 38-29 advantage, the Cardinals yielded a three-pointer to open the second half before Jack Bronec's layup with 17:57 to play opened a 20-9 surge over the next eight minutes, during which the hosts would make 8 of 8 shots from the floor and extend their lead to 58-41 following Aaron Jones' three-pointer with 10:01 on the clock. Matt Cappelletti scored six points in the rally, while Connor Raridon put up five, and North Central led by double figures the rest of the way. 

The Cardinals scored nine of the game's first 12 points and owned a 16-8 edge before Millikin (4-2, 0-1 CCIW) went on a 13-4 run and took its only lead of the game at 21-20 following Jack Marinko's three-pointer with 6:45 to play in the first half. After two free throws by Bronec and a layup by Will Clausel helped North Central reclaim the lead, an 8-0 run featuring a three-pointer from Blaise Meredith and five straight points from Aiden Chang led to a 34-25 Cardinal advantage late in the first half.

North Central shot 60.9 percent (14 of 23) from the floor in the second half and a season-high 53.8 percent (28 of 52) for the game while owning a 19-7 advantage in points scored off of turnovers. Raridon made 7 of 9 field goals and finished with game-high totals of 18 points and six assists, while Cappelletti and Chang each finished with 14 points and Meredith totaled 11. Chang's scoring total is a season high, while Cappelletti also finished with nine rebounds and five assists.

Elijah Henry put up 16 points for the Big Blue, which also got 14 from Marinko and 10 from Calvin Fisher.

North Central plays the second game of its four-game homestand on Wednesday, hosting Carroll University (2-4, 0-1 CCIW). Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.