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North Park University Athletics

pumphreywheaton24
83
Winner North Park NPU 11-14,6-10 CCIW
70
Wheaton (IL) WHEIL 6-19,5-11 CCIW
Winner
North Park NPU
11-14,6-10 CCIW
83
Final
70
Wheaton (IL) WHEIL
6-19,5-11 CCIW
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
North Park NPU 44 39 83
Wheaton (IL) WHEIL 27 43 70

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Craig Shelton & Greg Sager

Vikings go out on a high note, handle Thunder 83-70

WHEATON, Ill. – In their last game of the season, the Vikings traveled to Wheaton College to take on the Thunder and aimed to go out on a high note. They did just that, winning an 83-70 game that was never close.

Within the first nine minutes of play, the Vikings jumped out to an impressive 23-4 lead.  The Vikings did not allow a bucket until eight minutes into the game when Wheaton's Nick Schiavello snapped the scoring drought with a three. The 19-point lead was the largest of the game and North Park would reach a 19-point lead in the second half as well.  The Vikings had many quality contributions with four players scoring in double figures and efficient performances from the bench.   

Junior Kolden Vanlandingham led the Vikings in scoring Saturday evening with 22 points and added 8 rebounds.  Sophomore guard Lance Nelson was close behind with 16 points and was active on defense with 2 steals.  Junior guard TJ Gardner and junior center Phil Holmes Jr. combined for 20 points.  Both Gardner and  Holmes Jr. were responsible for 3 steals and a block.  

Historical Notes:

  • Kolden's 13 made FTs tonight is tied for 6th-best in program history.
    • His 13-13 is the 2nd-most FTs made without a miss in program history, trailing only Mike "Sonny" Parker's 16-16 against Carroll in 1984-85
  • Kenton Lei, who ended the season with a league-leading .560 FG% in CCIW play, is the fifth Viking in program history to lead the CCIW in FG%, and the first since Larry Moore did it in 2001-02. Phil Holmes was in second place behind Lei at .558.
  • Kolden finished three points shy of being the league's leading scorer. Instead he comes in second to Elmhurst's John Ittounas, who averaged 17.6 in CCIW play over 16 games to Kolden's 17.4 over 15 games.
  • Shamar led the league in steals with 29 (1.8 steals per game in CCIW play). He finishes his North Park career with 125 steals, good for tenth place in program history.

Though the Vikings are out of CCIW playoff contention, going out on a high note was the best way to go out for the seniors as well as build confidence in returning players for next season. Thank you to seniors Trey Brooks, Quillin Dixon, Kenton Lei, Shamar Pumphrey, and Steven Zesiger for their time and commitment to NPU.


Top Performers:

Kolden Vanlandingham – 22 PTS, 8 REB 

Lance Nelson – 16 PTS, 4 REB, 2 STL 

Phil Holmes Jr. – 10 PTS, 4 REB, 3 STL, 1 BLK 

TJ Gardner – 10 PTS, 4 REB, 3 STL, 4-4 FG 

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