CHICAGO, IL - Looking to bounce back after suffering a loss from Wheaton College, the North Park Men's Basketball team hosted the Elmhurst College Bluejays on Wednesday night.
North Park trailed early in the game as 3 three-pointers and a few fastbreak layups gave the Bluejays a 15-2 head start.
The first response came from a Jason Hines three-pointer in the far corner, to narrow the lead to 15-5.
The next response came in the form of a successful and-one layup by Senior Colin Lake, followed by a pair of Viking three-pointers to narrow the Bluejay lead to 8.
Continuing to chip away, the Vikings caused a few miscues in the Elmhurst offense. Taking advantage of the lull in scoring, Billy Kirby knocked down 3 three-pointers. With the score now 30-29, the Vikings had all the momentum.
As Elmhurst's offense began to wake up, the two teams began trading shots once more. Colin Lake added to his impressive first half with 4 consecutive free throws, and North Park curtailed the gap to 34-38.
The Vikings were not done scoring yet. Billy Kirby saw a mismatch between the Elmhurst defense and he left his defender in the dust on an easy layup.
Unfortunately, 2 clutch threes by Elmhurst pushed the Bluejays to a 44-36 lead at halftime.
Billy Kirby had the highlight half for the Vikings, totaling 14 points from 3 three-pointers. Colin Lake added 7 while going a perfect 5-5 from the free throw line.
Jason Hines opened up the scoring for North Park with his third three-pointer in the game, bringing NPU within 5.
However, Elmhurst seemed to find their footing in the second half of play, as the Bluejays regained a double-digit lead at 53-43.
Colin Lake cut the Elmhurst lead once more, after a layup in traffic, followed by a self-created fast break when he took advantage a lackadaisical inbounds pass and took it all the way for an easy 2.
North Park surrendered 28 free throws in the second half, allowing Elmhurst to tally 20 from the charity stripe.
Despite a red-hot second half by Colin Lake, who had 17 points and 2 assists, the Vikings fell to the Bluejays 91-76.
With the loss, the Vikings are now 4-9 overall and have a CCIW record of 1-4.
Billy Kirby had 18 points in the contest, including a trifecta of three-pointers
STANDOUT PLAYERS
- Colin Lake had 17 points in the second half and 24 on the game with 3 assists
- Billy Kirby followed closely behind Lake, adding 18 points from 3 three-pointers
- Jason Hines came off the bench totaling 11 points as he went 3-4 from beyond the arc
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Vikings have a short rest until Saturday night, where they will take on CCIW's number two, Illinois Wesleyan (11-3, 4-1).
Illinois Wesleyan's last game was an 87-75 victory over Elmhurst College on January 6th. The Titans' best scorer, Brady Rose, is one slot ahead of Colin Lake for overall points on the season. Rose currently has 304, averaging 21.7 points per game.
