CHICAGO, Ill. -- The North Park men's basketball team faced off with the North Central Cardinals on Saturday evening, winning 79-65 to solidify their second place standing in the CCIW.
The Vikings got off to a strong start in tonight's contest, carrying a double-digit lead through the opening ten minutes. The NPU lead extended as far as 14 points with halftime drawing near, but the Cardinals managed to push back and cut the deficit to 8 by the break on the back of an 11-11 performance from the free throw line.
The second half similarly started on a good note for North Park, who quickly re-established their 14-point lead, but the Cardinals once again responded. Coming out of a timeout with 15 left to play, NCC proceeded to go on a 12-2 run to bring themselves within 4 points. Momentum continued to sway back and forth, with North Park getting back to a double-digit cushion only for the Cardinals to erase the lead shortly thereafter. With 5 minutes remaining, the Vikings finally strung together a stretch that the Cardinals could no longer keep up with. A jump shot from Shamar Pumphrey opened the floodgates, and North Park closed out the game from then on with a 14-4 run.
The Vikings were led in scoring by Pumphrey's 17, and his 6 assists also marked a team-high. Kolden Vanlandingham trailed only slightly in the points department with 16, needing just 8 shot attempts to reach that mark. Davante Robinson rounded out NPU's double-digit scorers with 11. Pumphrey and Vanlandingham both finished the game with 3 steals, but that was not enough for the team lead as Marquise Jackson swiped 4. The last of those steals ended with an emphatic fast break alley-oop which Jackson bounced off the floor back to himself. Elsewhere defensively, Jordan Boyd's 3 blocks were both a team-high and a season-high for the Vikings' big man.
What's Next?
North Park's next matchup comes on Wednesday, January 25th against the nationally ranked No. 8 Wheaton Thunder. The Vikings will host that contest, with tip-off set for 7:00 P.M.
