ST. PAUL, Minn.-- North Central got great performances from their front court and controlled the glass in a 70-59 victory over Macalester College on the road on Tuesday evening. The Rams defense also created issues for the hosting Scots and Men's Basketball ended the first semester portion of their schedule with a momentum building victory.

North Central (6-3, 0-0) traveled east on highway 94 to St. Paul for a finals week tilt with Macalester College on Tuesday night to close the 2013 portion of the schedule for both teams. The teams traded baskets over the first few minutes and NCU trailed 10-8 five minutes into the game. But the Rams used a 19-2 run to establish a 27-12 lead at the 7:09 mark and would never trail again. NCU led 34-19 at halftime.

The second half saw NCU build a lead that grew as big as 19 points when freshman Isaiah Rustad (Hudson, Iowa/Hudson) hit a jumper, was fouled and converted the free throw to give the Rams a 48-29 lead at the 10:30 mark. The rest of the half Macalester would chisel away and narrowed the lead to just 59-53 with 3:12 remaining but junior Jordan Harrell (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) scored on a nice assist from Isaiah Rustad on the next Rams possession and that would be as close as the Scots would come.

Free throw shooting was key for NCU as time ticked away with the Rams going 7-8 in the final 2 minutes of the game. North Central held the Scots to just 21-66 (.318) shooting and then cleaned off the glass earning a 49-28 rebounding edge including 38 defensive boards.

NCU was led by senior Bryce Burkman (Winsted, Minn./Maple Grove) who scored 17 points on a very effective 7-8 performance from the floor and a 3-3 night at the free throw line. Jordan Harrell was also very effective going 6-10 from the floor with 16 points and 6 rebounds.

Sophomore Luke Chafin (Dayton, Ohio/Troy Christian) added 12 points and 7 rebounds. Isaiah Rustad chipped in 9 points while sophomore Juice Washington (St Louis, Mo./Maplewood-Richmond Heights) scored 8 points and pulled down a game high 9 boards.

North Central will be off for the Christmas holiday for the next few weeks. They return to action on January 11 when they open their 2014 schedule and their UMAC slate with a 5 p.m. tip off at home versus The University of Northwestern.