Atoning for a slow start with an overwhelming 15-minute stretch of play which effectively ended the contest, the North Central College men's basketball team collected its fourth straight win at Carroll University on Saturday, departing Van Male Fieldhouse with a 75-52 conquest of the Pioneers.
 
The Cardinals (15-3, 7-2 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) improved to 6-1 in away games this season and completed a season sweep of Carroll, outscoring the hosts, 37-7, over the final 10 minutes of the first half and the first five minutes of the second.
 
North Central struggled to find the range offensively out of the gate, missing its first seven field-goal attempts before Will Clausel's inside basket after more than nine minutes had elapsed. Mike Pollack pulled up for a three-pointer on the fast break shortly thereafter to tie the score at 10-10, but the Pioneers' Troy Howat responded with a three of his own to give the hosts a 13-10 edge with 9:50 left in the first half.
 
Connor Raridon gave the Cardinals their first lead with a personally-financed five-point run, sinking a three-pointer from the left wing before driving end-to-end for a layup. Following a Carroll timeout, Raridon fed Matt Cappelletti for a triple to extend the lead to 18-13. A three-point play by Howat and a layup by Kale Maupin bookended an 18-foot jumper by Blaise Meredith, leaving the score at 20-18 in North Central's favor with 5:26 on the clock.
 
Carroll (6-12, 2-7 CCIW) was held scoreless for the remainder of the period, going 0 for 6 from the floor with four turnovers, and watched the Cardinals pull away with 15 unanswered points, including seven in the final 1:15 before the break as a putback by Derek DeYoung and a three-pointer from Meredith came before an Aaron Jones steal enabled Pollack to feed DeYoung for a layup just before the buzzer. The visitors headed into the break with a 35-18 advantage, making 12 of their final 16 field-goal attempts of the half.
 
After giving up the initial basket of the second period, the Cardinals scored the next 12 points to take their largest lead at 47-20 with 15:06 to play. Carroll's comeback effort never got it closer than 15 points down the stretch.
 
North Central shot 52.3 percent (23 of 44) from the floor and 46.2 percent (12 of 26) from three-point range, improving to 6-0 in games during which it shoots at least 50 percent. Raridon led the Cardinals in scoring for the second straight game with 18 points, making 10 of 10 free throws, while also leading the team in assists (6) and steals (3). Cappelletti put up 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds and Jones scored 10 points.
 
Howat and Tyler Ingebrigtsen were Carroll's leading scorers with 10 points each.
 
North Central travels to face Millikin University (9-7, 3-5) on Wednesday. Tipoff at the Griswold Center is set for 7:00 p.m.