Box Score

The North Park men's basketball team fell 73-52 to host Augustana College in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin action Tuesday night in Rock Island.

Although the Vikings never claimed the lead, they stayed within striking distance throughout most of the contest. After facing a small 32-25 deficit at halftime, North Park closed within four at 32-28 not even a minute into the half when senior Emanuel Crosby, who finished with a season-high 19 points, converted a three-point play. Augustana responded to the rally quickly though as it put together a 7-0 scoring run to pull ahead 39-28 with 17:40 left. The Vikings didn't back down as they again whittled the deficit down to two after a 9-0 scoring capped off by a jumper from senior Kendell Greer made it a 39-37 affair at the 14:09 mark.  Still AC wouldn't be denied as it once again countered with an 11-2 spurt to push its advantage to 50-39. North Park didn't draw any closer than seven thereafter as Augustana built its lead up to as much as 23 points in the final minute.

Greer finished with 12 points as the only other Viking in double-figure scoring. Sophomore Mike Gabriel added five rebounds and nine points, while team leading scorer Mark Holmes was held to only eight points on 2-of-6 shooting unfortunately. Four different AC players finished in double-figure scoring, led by 13 points from Troy Rorer.

North Park (5-11, 1-4) returns to action Saturday afternoon when it hosts Wheaton College, as part of a doubleheader with the women's basketball team, at 4 p.m.