CHICAGO, Ill. -- The North Park men's basketball team lost a disappointing CCIW opener against the Carroll University Pioneers on Wednesday night, 77-61. Carroll's hustle led to plenty of opportunities, as the Pioneers out-rebounded the Vikings 42-25.

The Pioneers came out firing in the first half shooting 57.1% (16-for-28) from the field, whereas North Park put up a 41.2% (14-for-34). Carroll established an early double-digit lead on quality three-point shooting and putback layups, earning a 17-7 lead seven minutes into the first half. However, an and-one layup for Kyren Gardner, and consecutive layups by Shamar Pumphrey and DJ Wallace narrowed the gap to 17-14 with 11:53 left in the half. A blocked shot by Phil Holmes, Jr. led to a fastbreak bucket for Wallace before Holmes added another layup, following a Pio free throw, to tie the game at 18-18 with the first ten minutes of the half gone. However, slowly but surely, the Pioneers distanced themselves from the VIkings, regaining their 10-point lead, 41-31, at the half. Carroll showed dominance on the boards, grabbing 17 compared to the Vikings' 7.  

Unfortunately, the Vikings did not take advantage of many fastbreak opportunities while everything Carroll's Aaron Wafford touched turned to gold. North Park was just 12-37 (32.4%) from the field and 3-14 (21.43%) from deep while the Pioneers utiliez 14 second-chance points in the 77-61 defeat.

What's Next 

North Park (2-4, 0-1 CCIW)) gets ready to bounce back for another CCIW matchup with a home game against Elmhurst this Saturday, December 2 at 4:15pm. Tipoff will follow the women's game.