Dominating the game when the outcome hung in the balance for the second straight contest, the North Central College men's basketball team posted a victory on Illinois Wesleyan University's home floor for the fourth straight year on Wednesday, defeating the Titans, 85-83, at the Shirk Center.

The Cardinals (13-3, 5-2 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) trailed, 80-72, with 2:02 to play before closing the game with a 13-3 run. Leading the charge was senior guard Tommy Koth, who scored 26 points on 8 of 11 shooting (5 of 7 from three-point range) to nearly double his previous career high of 14 points, set in Saturday's 82-70 win over Elmhurst College.

The Titans threatened to run away with the game in the first half, taking a 42-29 lead with 3:48 to play in the opening period before North Central closed with a 9-1 run and headed into halftime with just a 43-38 deficit. The Cardinals scored the first seven points of the second half as Connor Raridon scored on a fallaway jumper and fed Koth for a three-pointer before Koth sank a pair of free throws to give the visitors their first lead since midway through the first half.

Illinois Wesleyan (9-6, 2-4) briefly retook the lead before two charity shots from Raridon and a three-pointer by Matt Cappelletti moved the Cardinals back in front. With the score standing at 50-49 in North Central's favor, Koth made a bid to break the game open, sinking three-pointers on three straight possessions and prompting a Titan timeout with 13:04 on the clock.

The Cardinals led by as many as six points before an 8-2 run allowed IWU to tie the score at 64-64. The game was tied three more times before consecutive three-pointers by Doug Wallen and Grant Wolfe ignited a 9-1 run which put the hosts in front, 80-72. A quick three-pointer by Mike Pollack cut into the lead, and he attempted to make it two in a row by hoisting a triple on the next trip down the floor. The shot was off the mark, but Koth was able to grab the rebound and put it back, getting fouled in the process and sinking the subsequent free throw to close the gap to 80-78 with 1:21 left. Koth was fouled grabbing a rebound on the other end of the floor and made two more from the stripe, tying the score at 80-80.

IWU's Brady Rose drew a foul and made a pair of free throws to nudge the home team back in front with 31.9 seconds to play, but Pollack struck again from three-point range 13 seconds later. Rose attempted to counter-punch once again, but his running jumper was off the mark. Blaise Meredith was fouled on the rebound and his two free throws extended the Cardinals' lead to 85-82. North Central elected to foul Rose rather than risk a game-tying three-point attempt, and Rose instead sank one of two from the line. With just 3.5 seconds left, IWU fouled Aaron Jones to stop the clock. Jones' trip to the free-throw stripe was unsuccessful, but the Titans did not have enough time to launch a shot the other way.

The Cardinals shot 51.0 percent (26 of 51) from the floor, including a 14 of 27 effort from three-point range. For the second straight game, North Central had five double-figure scorers. Pollack finished with 15 points, while Raridon scored 13, Cappelletti added 12 and Meredith put up 11. Raridon tied his own single-game school record with 13 assists. 

Rose led the Titans with 24 points, while Wallen finished with 16 and Wolfe and Colin Bonnett each added 13.

North Central is idle until Wednesday, Jan. 16, when it hosts Carthage College (7-8, 2-4). Tipoff at Gregory Arena is set for 7:00 p.m.