CHICAGO, Ill. -- North Park is coming off a tough 81-75 loss against Elmhurst University, a game that saw the Vikings come back from being down double-digits but couldn't close the gap enough to take the lead. The Vikings sit at 10-6 on the season with a 3-4 CCIW record, putting them just outside the top 6 seeds after their lost against the Bluejays. The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin is riddled with competitive teams as eight of the nine schools have records .500 or above with all eight of those schools having at least three conference wins. While the competition level is fierce and great for the conference, it puts the pressure on every single team because of the fact that every game from this point forward could make all the difference in playoff seeding.
In their loss to Elmhurst the Vikings struggled from the field in the first half, shooting 44% overall and 22% from behind the arc but found some success in the paint throughout the entirety of the game. Mike Vuckovic walked away as North Park's leading scorer with 18 points with Kolden Vanlandingham right behind him with 17 points of his own. Despite three other players in Tyvin Garrison, William Bates, and Jerome Smith Jr. all reaching 10 points and forcing 18 turnovers as a team, the Vikings struggled to hault the Bluejays' offense that held a 40-30 points in the paint advantage as well as 15 offensive rebounds which led to 21 second chance points. North Park, being one of the best assisting teams in the CCIW, was held to only 9 assists on the night in part due to their limited transition scoring.
North Park faces Augustana College (9-7, 4-3) currently sits in 4th place in the CCIW standings, three spots ahead of North Park, and is looking to win their third straight game after beating Carroll and North Central last week. So far this season, Augustana has been a well-rounded offensive team that finds its success from many different players while averaging 78.9 points per game (4th in CCIW). Redshirt freshman Andre Klaver and junior Cam Atkinson spearhead the Augie attack, both averaging 13.4 points per game; Klaver averages 3 assists per game finding guys Jake Willems (12.3) and Marieon Anderson (10.3), Augie's other two double-digit scorers this season. Augie's success is in no small part due to their high three-point percentage (37%), good for second in the CCIW, with a remarkable seven players shooting at least 35% from behind the arc on the season.
North Park's matchup against Augustana is set up to be a high scoring affair, not only because both teams are top three in scoring, but also because both teams sit in the bottom three in scoring defense, meaning they allow the first (North Park) and third (Augie) most amount of points of all the teams in the CCIW. However, both defenses are in the top-3 in steals per game, and Augie holding teams to just over 11 points per game in transition, which is a big part of the North Park offense.
Tip off for the match up between these two Viking teams is set for 7pm in the Carlson Gymnasium on Wednesday, January 21st.
