CHICAGO, Ill. -- Carlson Gym had a captive audience for nearly three hours on Saturday night as North Park Men's Basketball clawed back from a 17-point first-half deficit and outlasted Wisconsin-Stevens Point in three overtimes, 115-114. The Vikings handed the Pointers, who received votes in the recent D3hoops.com National Top 25 poll, their first loss of the season while North Park improves to 4-1.
Pointers Pound the Paint Early
Stevens Point dictated the opening half with a relentless interior attack. The Pointers scored 24 points in the paint before halftime and shot 55.2% from the field (16-of-29), building a 43-26 lead. Seth Miron opened his night with a three at 18:47, then tallied layups at 16:48, 14:36, and 8:48. Cal Krohn added a dunk at 7:51 to keep the momentum up while UWSP positioned themselves well under the hoop for plenty of offensive rebounds. The Pointers had converted 12-of-14 shots inside the lane and owned a 17-point cushion going into halftime.
North Park struggled to find rhythm early, hitting just 10-of-25 from the floor and committing seven turnovers in the first 20 minutes. Some of the only big moments were from senior guard William Bates and junior forward Lazario Cornish, who combined for three first-half threes to keep the Vikings afloat.
Vanlandingham Leads the Charge in the Second Half
The second half played out entirely different. North Park erupted for 56 points, shooting 76% from the field and 7-of-10 from deep. Senior guard Kolden Vanlandingham was the catalyst, scoring 24 of his new career high 39 points after halftime. He opened the half with a driving layup at 19:43, added another in transition at 18:51, and buried threes at 9:31 and 5:25. Senior guard Jalen Houston joined the surge, hitting a three at 11:02 and another at 1:02 to keep the Vikings within striking distance.
Junior center Julian Campbell's work inside played a big role, too. His layup at 6:08 and four straight free throws during a 16:18 timeout run helped trim the margin as the Blue & Gold continued to trail. By the 4:21 mark, Bates drilled a three to make it 71-74. After a flurry of exchanges, a three pointer from Houston and a steal-to-behind-the-back-dish for Cornish sent Bates to the line shooting two.
Bates' two free throws at :55 cut the deficit to one, and Vanlandingham's free throw at :13 tied the game at 82-82. The Pointers had one last possession to make something happened, but a missed layup was pulled down by Hoston to move the game to its first overtime.
Overtime I:
North Park struck first in OT with Campbell's second-chance layup at 4:12. UWSP answered with Carter Combs' jumper at 3:49 and Baumgartner's free throws at 2:01 to tie it at 87. Bates reclaimed the lead with a layup at 1:48, but Butler's fast-break finish at 1:05 evened it again. Houston's layup at :58 gave North Park a 91-89 edge, only for Butler to tie it at :30 to send the game to another period of extra play.
Overtime II:
Baumgartner's three at 3:45 and Butler's layup at 3:15 pushed UWSP ahead 96-91. Vanlandingham answered with a layup at 3:04 and Houston hit two free throws at 2:28. After Krohn's layup made it 98-93, Houston drilled a three at 1:15 to cut it to 98-101. With :37 left, Houston sank two more at the stripe, pulling North Park within one. Then came the play of the period: A blocked layup with six second on the clock nearly spelled disaster but Cornish was all alone for the quick put-back, tying the game at 102.
Overtime III:
UWSP surged ahead again. Butler's layup at 4:41 and Krohn's finish at 3:23 made it 108-104 as things were looking bleak for NPU. Vanlandingham refused to fold, assisting Cornish on a dunk at 3:06 and later hitting two free throws to keep hope alive. With 10 seconds left, Houston found Vanlandingham for a deep stepback three, slicing the deficit to 112-113.
Butler split free throws at :03 for a two-point UWSP lead. Then, with one second remaining, Jerome Smith, Jr. spun out of danger, kicked over to freshman guard Marquis Vance in the corner, and Vance would elevate over his defender to find nothing but the bottom of the net, beating the buzzer in front of an erupting North Park student section for the game winner.
Stat Leaders
North Park:
Wisconsin–Stevens Point:
- Seth Miron - 34 pts (10-16 FG), 13-19 FT, 7 reb
- Cal Krohn - 25 pts, 8-12 FG, 9-14 FT
- Josiah Butler - 24 pts, 9-19 FG
- Logan Baumgartner - 21 pts, 8 reb
Historical Notes
* 6th-highest score for the Vikings in program history
* tied for 7th-highest number of field goals (39) scored by the Vikings in program history
* tied for 3rd-highest number of three-pointers (15) scored by the Vikings in program history
* tied for longest game (3OT) in program history - this was NPU's fourth 3-OT game ever
What's Next?
North Park (4-1) opens College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) play next Wednesday, December 3, on the road at Carroll University (3-3). Tipoff at Van Male Fieldhouse in Waukesha, Wisconsin is set for 7:00 PM CT.
