North Park Box Score
CHICAGO, Ill. - The Elmhurst College men's basketball team, ranked 17th in the latest D3hoops.com poll, ripped North Park University 88-69 to improve to 17-6 overall and 8-4 in league play.
Elmhurst led from start to finish, never trailing in the contest. The Bluejays scored the first eight points of the game and never looked back. The Bluejays built a 22-point lead in the first half and led 41-25 at the break. Elmhurst continued to pull away in the second half, building a 24-point lead and cruising to the 88-69 win.
Elmhurst shot a whopping 64.7 percent (33-of-51) from the floor, including 40.0 percent (4-of-10) from downtown. The Bluejays hit 18-of-21 (85.7 percent) free throw attempts. North Park (8-16, 0-13 CCIW) shot only 37.5 percent (24-of-64) from the field and 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from beyond the arc.
Elmhurst dominated in the paint, outscoring the Vikings 42-28 in the lane. After turning the ball over a season-high 22 times on Wednesday, the Bluejays turned the ball over just six times against the Vikings.
Ryan Burks scored a game-high 25 points to lead the Bluejays. Burks shot 8-of-14 from the floor, including 4-of-8 from downtown. He added four assists in the win.
Brent Ruch shot 8-of-11 from the field and was a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line to total 23 points. Ruch also recorded a steal to become only the second player in Elmhurst history to record over 1,000 points, 600 rebounds, and 100 steals.
Chris Childs came off the bench to total nine points and four assists.
Dustin Bainter added eight points in the win.
North Park was led by Nick Williams' 19 points and five rebounds. Roshawn Russell added 15 points and six assists while Kendall Greer came off the bench to score 10.
With the victory, the Bluejays moved into second-place in the CCIW standings. Elmhurst and North Central College are tied with identical 8-4 league records. Both teams trail first-place Wheaton College (9-3) by one game.
Elmhurst travels to North Central College on Wednesday, February 18.
