Box Score

Despite a career-high 15-point performance from sophomore Reggie McGee, North Park couldn't hang on in a 69-60 loss to host Carthage College in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin action Wednesday night.

North Park led by as many six points in the first half and was down only 33-30 at halftime, but the Vikings struggled defensively at the start of the second half, allowing Carthage to turn a three-point advantage into an 11-point margin and later as much as a 14-point advantage.

The Vikings fell behind 6-0 to start the contest, but immediately regrouped and went on a 15-8 scoring run to grab a 15-14 lead after a lay-up from Cameron Burnett with 9:38 left in the first half. Carthage came back to tie the game at 18-18 three minutes later, but back-to-back three-pointers from senior Zach Cassita, Jr. and McGee gave North Park its largest lead of the night at 24-18 with 4:24 left in the half. Carthage responded though with a run of its own, this time a 12-6 spurt, to reclaim a three-point lead at halftime, and North Park seemingly got stuck in a rut.

NP did nearly erase Carthage's 14-point advantage in the second half, cutting it to seven with a 9-2 run, but 4 of 6 free throws from the Red Men in the final 19 seconds decided the verdict.

Cassita added 13 points for North Park, while freshman Chris Benjamin was the only other Viking in double-figure scoring with 10 points. Mitch Thompson led Carthage with a game-high 19 points.

North Park (6-12, 1-6) returns to action this Saturday when it hosts Augustana College for a 4 p.m. contest.