NAPERVILLE — The Carthage College men's basketball team picked up their fourth conference win to open the week, defeating North Central (Ill.) 69-61 Wednesday night. 

• Final Score: Carthage 69 - North Central (Ill.) 61
• Location: Naperville, Illinois - Gregory Arena
• Records: Carthage 10-4 (4-1 CCIW), North Central (Ill.) 5-9 (1-4 CCIW)

• Carthage opened the contest with an early surge, taking a six-point advantage on a layup by Griffin Daun to start the scoring.
• The Cardinals responded with three free throws and a layup to trim the margin to 15-12 with 8:36 remaining in the first half.
• Chris Schlesinger later restored a five-point cushion by knocking down a three-pointer.
• AJ Johnson capped the half with back-to-back three-pointers, sending Carthage into the break with a 31-23 lead.
• The Firebirds came out strong after halftime as Riley Brooks scored inside to extend the lead to 35-25.
• At the 15:25 mark, Ryan Johnson connected from beyond the arc to push the advantage to nine.
• North Central (Ill.) mounted a rally and pulled within three on a layup with 11:26 left, but AJ Williams answered immediately with a three-pointer to make it 50-43.
• The Cardinals again closed the gap to five before AJ Johnson buried another three, giving Carthage a 64-57 edge with 2:28 to play.
• Carthage sealed the victory at the free-throw line in the final minutes, securing a 69-61 win.

• For the third consecutive game, Riley Brooks scored 20 or more points, finishing the night with 21. 
• Ryan Johnson recorded 10 rebounds and 11 points, while his brother narrowly missed a double-double, ending the game with 13 points and nine rebounds. 
• Griffin Daun added eight points and four rebounds, while AJ Williams and Chris Schlesinger each tallied six points.

"The guys showed a ton of fight today against a very physical, well-coached North Central team. Road wins in the CCIW are always tough to get, so I'm happy how we persevered in the second half. 

Defensively, we have been playing really well of late. We wanted to run their best shooters off the line, and I thought we did a great job collectively holding them to 4-24 from the three-point line. 

Riley Brooks was terrific in the second half and hit some huge shots when North Central cut into our lead. We said at halftime that we needed someone outside of Griffin Daun and Ryan Johnson to get to the boards, and AJ Johnson finished with nine. 

Bye week Saturday before another huge week starting with North Park on Wednesday. They are always a tough matchup with their style, and we need to be ready to compete!"

• The Firebirds return home to face North Park on Wednesday, January 14, at 7 p.m.