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Men's Basketball Team Downs North Park 58-54
Box Score
ELMHURST, Ill. - The Elmhurst College men's basketball team improved to 17-6 overall and 7-5 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) by defeating North Park University 58-54.
Elmhurst pulled to a third-place tie in the league standings after Wheaton College lost to Illinois Wesleyan University. The Bluejays remained just a game ahead of Carthage College in the standings. The Bluejays magic number to clinch a spot in the CCIW Tournament now stands at two with two games remaining.
Trailing 12-11 midway through the first half, Elmhurst used an 11-0 run to grab a 22-12 lead. North Park scored the half's final five points to pull to within a five point deficit (22-17) at the half. Both teams struggled in the first half, with Elmhurst shooting only 27.3 percent (9-of-33) and North Park hitting 23.3 percent (7-of-30) of its shots.
North Park (12-11, 4-8 CCIW) slowly chipped away at the Elmhurst lead in the second half. A Clayton Cahill 3-pointer gave the Vikings a 32-31 lead with 11 minutes to play, but the Bluejays responded with a 12-2 run to take a 43-34 lead with 5:53 to go. North Park managed to trim the lead down to three points on two occasions, but came no closer as Elmhurst hung on for the 58-54 victory.
The Bluejays finished the game shooting a season-low 35.7 percent (20-of-56) from the floor. Elmhurst shot 26.3 percent (5-of-19) from downtown and 76.5 percent (13-of-17) from the foul line.
North Park shot 32.3 percent from the field (20-of-62). Half of the shots the Vikings attempted came from 3-point range as North Park shot 29.0 percent (9-of-31) from beyond the arc. The Vikings hit 5-of-7 free throw attempts.
Elmhurst won the battle on the glass by outrebounding North Park 48-33.
Brent Ruch (Farmer City/Blue Ridge) led Elmhurst with a double-double. Ruch scored 15 points and pulled down 14 rebounds in the win. Ryan Burks (Manito/Midwest Central) and Jared Hintzsche (Kirkland/Hiawatha) each scored 11 in the victory. Hintzsche added seven rebounds and four blocked shots in the win. Robert Strzemp (Oak Park/Oak Park-River Forest) came off the bench to score 10 points and grab six rebounds.
North Park was led by Jason Gordon's 15 points. Nick Williams added 133 points and eight rebounds.
Elmhurst hosts North Central College on Wednesday, February 20. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
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