On a day considered a success simply by teams taking the court in competition, the North Central College men's basketball team ended its longest stretch between games in more than 75 years Saturday. After enduring a slow start, the Cardinals broke open a close game early in the second half and wound up pulling away for a 69-49 victory over the North Park University Vikings at Gregory Arena.
 
In competition for the first time since an 84-82 overtime victory over the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the second round of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship on Mar. 7, 2020, North Central took some time to find its rhythm. The hosts made just one of their first eight shots as the Vikings held a 7-2 advantage after four minutes of play.
 
Guard Shea Cupples came off the bench and immediately helped the Cardinals get to work cutting down the deficit, coming up with a steal and feeding Matt Helwig for a layup. Helwig then found Blaise Meredith for a three-pointer and a jumper in a two-minute stretch as North Central took its first lead at 9-7. Both teams went scoreless for nearly three minutes before another triple by Meredith put the home team up 12-7 and prompted a North Park timeout.
 
The Vikings rallied behind the efforts of backup guard Adam Sundh, who converted three straight layups to nudge the guests back in front, 18-17, with 5:59 on the clock. The lead changed hands five more times before North Park's Toby Marek closed the half with a jump shot that sent the contest into halftime tied, 27-27.
 
The Cardinals set upon what turned out to be the game's deciding scoring run soon after play resumed, scoring 12 of the first 13 points in the second half. Three-pointers by Meredith and Helwig were followed by six straight points by Matt Smietanski, who scored inside twice and sank a pair of free throws to grant North Central a 39-28 lead less than four minutes into the second period.
 
The hosts were not threatened from then on, leading by as many as 23 points down the stretch. After shooting just 32.3 percent (10 of 31) from the floor in the first half, the Cardinals heated up to 51.7 percent accuracy (15 of 29) in the second half while limiting North Park a 31.3 percent effort (20 of 64) from the floor. The hosts owned a 50-38 advantage in rebounding, converting 14 offensive rebounds into 17 second-chance points.
 
Meredith was one of four double-figure scorers for North Central, each of whom established a new career single-game scoring high. The senior finished with 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, making 6 of 12 three-point shots. Smietanski totaled 13 points and six boards, while Brian Johnson put up 11 points and nine boards and Cupples contributed 10 points and seven rebounds.
 
Sundh was the lone Viking to venture into double-figure scoring, finishing with 12 points on 6 of 8 shooting.
 
The teams will play a return engagement on Monday on the Vikings' home court. Tipoff at the North Park Gymnasium in Chicago is set for 7:00 p.m.