ST. PAUL, Minn.-- North Central University Men's Basketball led by as many as 18 points in the first half but had to hold on through a strong second half by St. Mary's University (Winona, Minn.) to earn an 83-78 victory over the Cardinals. The win gives NCU their first victory of the season and saw senior Nathan Roeder return the form that earned him Association of Division III Independents Player of the year one season ago.

North Central (1-1, 0-0) trailed for less than 30 seconds in the game and built a lead as big as 18 points in the first 20 minutes of action. Sophomore Luke Chafin (Dayton, Ohio/Troy Christian) hit a three point basket with 6:23 left in the first half to give NCU a 31-13 lead. After a Cardinals score on their next possession, junior Bryce Burkman (Winsted, Minn./Maple Grove) added a jumper to give NCU a 33-15 lead to equal the largest differential in the game.

St. Mary's would trim the lead back to a 37-28 difference before the halftime break and that run continued all the way through the second half. The Rams and Cardinals would exchange short scoring runs with NCU never leading by more than eight after the first minute of the second half.

SMU was able to trim the lead all the way down to 76-75 with 51 seconds remaining. But senior Nathan Roeder (Hudson, Wis./Hudson) hit a jumper the next possession. Less than 30 seconds later a pair of Roeder free throws established an 80-76 Rams lead that would hold up over the remainder of the game.

Nathan Roeder led all scorers with 41 points and returned to the form of last season which saw him hit the NCU single-game scoring record of 44 points in two different games. Bryce Burkman recorded his first double-double of the year with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Junior Jordan Harrell (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) added 14 points. Luke Chafin pulled down 11 rebounds to go along with his 5 points.

North Central will be in action on Monday for their home opener verses Crossroads College (Rochester, Minn.). The Rams and Knights are scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.