KENOSHA, Wis. – The North Park University men's basketball team led by two at the half, but a 33-point game from Carthage's Fillip Bulatovic led to a 69-55 defeat for the Vikings on Thursday night at Tarble Arena.
It was Jordan Boyd that got going early, scoring six of the first eight Vikings' points to put North Park up 8-4 less than three minutes into the ball game. Soon after, Carthage went on a 15-2 run to put themselves up nine with 12:23 to go before the half.
Toby Marek then scored eight straight for the Vikings on two threes and a mid-range jumper to cut the Carthage lead down to three. The team exchanged blows as the clock ticked down to halftime and it was another big bucket by Boyd that knotted the score at 32 with 1:44 to go. Marek then used a perfect wrap around pass to find Izaiah Sanders for a layup with 33 seconds left to send North Park into the locker room with the lead.
Halftime: North Park 34, Carthage 32
Sanders scored the first four points of the half and Boyd quickly followed with a bucket of his own to shoot the Vikings out to 40-32 with only 2:46 gone. From there, it was pretty much all Bulatovic and his Carthage teammates. They would score 23 of the next 30 points, 11 of those from Bulatovic, who ended with a career high 33. The lead was too much to overcome from there, and the Vikings came up short by 14 points.
FINAL: Carthage 69, North Park 55
Quick Hits:
- Jordan Boyd posted his first career double-double for the Vikings, putting up 16 points and 10 boards
- Toby Marek played all 40 minutes for North Park, scoring 12 points
- Sanders and Jalen Boyd each added eight points.
What's Next?
North Park (0-3) is back home on Saturday, January 30, to face Carthage College (2-0) again. Tipoff at NPU Gymnasium is set for 2 p.m.
