CHICAGO, Ill. -- The North Park University men's basketball team gave the North Central College Cardinals a tough game but fell by a score of 60-80 on Saturday night.

The Vikings marked the first two baskets of the game on jumpers from Izaiah Sanders and Vegard Tangen. North Central responded with a 3-pointer from Matt Cappelletti and a jumper from Tommy Koth to steal the lead at 5-4.

However, that lead was also short-lived as Toby Marek buried a 3-pointer and Matt Szuba followed suit to maintain a 10-7 in favor of North Park.

After the Cardinals took a 20-13 lead on a layup from Will Clausel, Tangen beat a Cardinal defender and soared to the rim for a thunderous two-handed slam, putting the Carlson Crazies on their feet.

Above footage courtesy of Fulcrum Media

North Central stole the momentum back on layups from Cappelletti and Clausel to keep their distance at 26-17.

Led by the red-hot hand of sophomore forward Matt Szuba, the Vikings worked their way back into the game. Szuba buried a pair of threes and swatted a Cardinal shot as the Vikings were one shot away from tying the game; 30-27.

Unfortunately, the Cardinals used 2 threes of their own to return to their 9-point lead moving to halftime.

Halftime: North Park 30, North Central 39

The second half featured a 16-28 shooting performance from the Cardinals (57.14%), including six 3-pointers, to outscore the Vikings 41-30. North Central's Mike Pollack led the way with 14 second-half points, including shooting a perfect 4-4 beyond the arc.

Despite the first half scoring streak from Matt Szuba and 16 points from Vegard Tangen, the Vikings fell to the Cardinals 60-80.

Final: North Park 60, North Central 80

Quick Hits

• Vegard Tangen earned a season-best 16 points and a steal
• Matt Szuba sent in three 3-points and led NPU with 8 boards
• Kindrel Morris was the main setup man with a career-high 7 assists
• Cardell Simmons posted double figures off the bench (11)
• North Central's Connor Raridon led the scoring with 20 points and 5 assists

What's Next?

The Vikings (4-16, 2-9 CCIW) travel to face the nation's second-ranked team in Augustana College on Saturday, February 2. Augustana has lost just one game this season and is undefeated in league play (11-0).