Box Score

The North Park men's basketball team fell 73-54 to host North Central College in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin action Tuesday night in Naperville.

Despite the loss, sophomore Mike Gabriel turned his second-straight double-digit scoring performance, and his third in the last three games, as he tallied 15 points to lead North Park. Gabriel shot 5-of-9 from the floor, including a three-pointer, and was nearly perfect from the free throw line as he connected on 4-of-5 shots. He also had seven rebounds and two blocked shots.

North Park kept things close through the first eight minutes of the game as it took an 11-10 lead on a three-pointer from junior Mark Holmes, who finished with 15 points, with 12:05 remaining. But North Central broke away over the next two minutes with a 6-0 scoring run to pull ahead 16-11 on a Charlie Rosenberg lay-up. The Vikings were able to knot the score at 16 on three free throws and a lay-up from senior Emanuel Crosby, but North Central held the momentum for the rest of the half and took a 33-27 lead at halftime.

NP continued to play strong out of the gate in the second half as it trimmed its deficit down to five at 39-34 on 2-of-3 free throws from Holmes, but couldn't keep up the momentum as North Central countered with six unanswered points to push its lead to 45-34. The Cardinals then held as much as a 17-point advantage down the stretch before they decided the final verdict in the last 20 seconds.

Crosby added eight points for the Vikings, while sophomore Josh McNaughton tallied seven. He also dished out four assists. Landon Gamble led North Central with 18 points.

North Park (5-13, 1-6) returns to action this weekend when it hosts Elmhurst College at 7 p.m., as part of a doubleheader with the women's basketball team, Saturday evening.