A strong early run of play in the second half helped the North Central College men's basketball team break open a close game Wednesday, as the 18th-ranked Cardinals extended their current winning streak to seven games with a 82-69 conquest of the Illinois Wesleyan University Titans at Gregory Arena.

North Central (11-3, 4-1 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) extended a seven-point halftime lead to 17 points in just over five minutes and led by as many as 22 points down the stretch, winning for the eighth time in its last 10 meetings with the Titans.

The contest was tight early, as the lead changed hands six times in the first five minutes of play. A three-pointer from Matt Cappelletti and five straight points by Matt Helwig pushed the Cardinals to a 17-10 lead, but IWU (9-5, 3-2 CCIW) countered with a 10-3 surge which tied the game at 20-20 with 7:24 left in the opening half. Cappelletti crashed the boards from the weak side for a tip-in and Will Clausel knocked down an outside jumper to keep the hosts in front, but North Central's lead was just two points before Clausel closed the half with a fast-break layup and a three-pointer to send the Cardinals into the break with a 34-27 edge.

The Titans wound up calling a timeout just 51 seconds after play resumed, as Helwig connected from three-point range and spun his way to the basket for a layup on consecutive possessions to open the second period. After a scoreless first half during which he shot the ball just once, Connor Raridon caught fire soon thereafter and scored seven points in a span of 1:10, sparking an 11-2 run that provided North Central with a 50-33 advantage with 13:49 left. The lead reached its largest at 60-38 after Raridon fed Cappelletti for a layup on the break with 8:58 on the clock.

A three-pointer from Peter Lambesis and two more from Cory Noe helped the Titans cut their deficit to 68-59, but a layup by Helwig and a three-pointer from Aiden Chang halted the visitors' progress. 

North Central enjoyed its finest shooting performance in nearly a month, Helwig made 8 of 12 shots from the floor and finished the night with a season-high 22 points, while Cappelletti put up 17 points and Clausel scored 14. Raridon totaled 13 points, seven rebounds and nine assists, increasing his career scoring total to 1,603 points to move past 1990 CCIW Player of the Year Robert Brown '90 for fifth place on the program's all-time scoring list.

Noe was the Titans' scoring leader with 21 points off the bench, while Lambesis and Charlie Bair each scored 14.
 
North Central hosts Carroll University (9-5, 2-3) on Wednesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.