CHICAGO, Ill. -- The North Park men's basketball team faced off with the Carroll Pioneers for Saturday night CCIW action, laboring through a back-and-forth defensive battle on their way to a 61-58 victory. With the win, the Vikings now sit at 5-2 in CCIW play (12-4 overall) which is good for a third place tie on the conference leader board alongside Illinois Wesleyan.
On a night where the Vikings had next to nothing going offensively—evidenced by their 21-73 shooting mark—Shamar Pumphrey came through with a massive 20-point, 6-assist outing to propel North Park to victory. With his 8-12 performance (4-5 from distance), Pumphrey helped account for 14 of the Vikings' 21 made field goals. Carroll deserves ample credit for their play on the defensive end, holding the other four Vikings' starters to 22 points on 35 shots. That mark, however, does not include usual starting C Jordan Boyd, who came off the bench in this contest to provide 13 points on 6-11 shooting along with 7 rebounds. Together, he and Pumphrey combined for 33 of North Park's 61 points and were the only Vikings to shoot above 50% from the field.
While the offense struggled mightily, the Vikings managed to reciprocate that same misfortune to the Pioneers who managed just 19-50 from the field. That represents a better shooting percentage than North Park, but it comes on 23 fewer opportunities. The disparity can be attributed the possession battle. North Park forced 22 turnovers out of Carroll—including a game-sealing steal by Marquise Jackson on Carroll's final possession—while turning the ball over only 10 times in comparison. The Vikings also outperformed Carroll on the glass although to a much lesser extent. With such a thin margin for error, North Park's defensive effort as a unit played a crucial role deciding tonight's outcome.
What's Next?
The Vikings continue their season next Wednesday, January 18th, when they head to Bloomington for a matchup with Illinois Wesleyan at 7:00 P.M.
