Box Score

The North Park men's basketball team fell 75-52 to visiting Wheaton College in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin action Saturday afternoon.

North Park started strong, which excited the raucous crowd of 667 fans, as it opened the game with an 11-5 lead after a three-point play from junior Mike Gabriel six minutes in, but Wheaton re-gained its composure as it turned the deficit into an 18-15 advantage with 13-4 scoring run capped off by a three-pointer from Tyler Peters. North Park did fight back to close within two at 26-24 after a jumper from junior Mark Holmes with 4:03 left, but Wheaton ended the half scoring eight of the final nine points to post a 34-25 lead at halftime.

Wheaton then opened the second half, in what turned out to be the deciding factor, with six unanswered points to pull ahead 40-27. The Thunder then extended their lead to as much as 26 in the half with just under two minutes remaining.

Gabriel finished with 14 points to lead North Park, as he shot 4-of-8 from the field, including a three-pointer, and was also a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line. Senior Roshawn Russell was the only other Viking in double-figure scoring as he finished with 11. Tim McCrary led Wheaton with 24 points.

North Park (5-12, 1-5) returns to action Tuesday night when it travels to Naperville to take on North Central College at 7:30 p.m.