APPLETON, Wis. -- In their second competition of a highly anticipated season, North Park University's men's basketball traveled to Appleton, Wisconsin for their first "real" game of 2023-24 at Lawrence University. North Park proved to be the better Vikings team, handily earning an 84-57 win.
After a quality exhibition against Division I DePaul University last week, North Park officially opened its season with high energy and a fast start due to their pressure on defense, both full court and in the half court. This allowed North Park to disrupt any rhythm Lawrence tried to get into offensively and helped them get to an early and strong lead.
Due to their defensive effort, North Park tallied 15 steals and 4 blocks in the first half while cleaning the defensive glass well and not allowing many second chance efforts for Lawrence. North Park shot the ball very efficiently in the first half at a 54% clip, with a lot of easy layups off Lawrence turnovers. From behind the 3-point arc, the Vikings shot just under 33% in the first half, but maintained a 49-20 lead at halftime.
Overall, 20 different Vikings saw the court in the season opener, while three players scored in double figures and seven players racked up at least 2 steals. 2023 All-Region guard Kolden Vanlandingham and junior guard TJ Gardner had 14 and 10 points, respectively, while junior guard Davante Robinson had a career night for the NPU offense. He set new career highs in shots made (8), threes made (7), and points in a game (23) to lead all scorers in the evening.
It will be very hard for opposing teams to score when the defensive intensity is as high as it was in tonight's game. The Vikings ended the evening with 20 steals and 10 blocked shots en route to the 84-57 win.
Quick Hits:
What's Next?
North Park has a quick turnaround game tomorrow, November 9, traveling down to Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville to play another exhibition game before their home opener on Sunday, November 12th, at 2:00pm against Marian University. Tomorrow's tipoff is set for 7:00 pm.
