Box Score ELMHURST, Ill. - The Elmhurst men's basketball team dropped its CCIW opener, falling to top-ranked North Central 71-51.

Elmhurst slipped to 4-8 overall (0-1 CCIW) with the loss while No. 1 North Central remained unbeaten, upping its record to 12-0.

Both teams struggled to find a rhythm early in the contest as Elmhurst led 14-12 midway through the opening half. North Central used an 8-0 run over the four minutes to built a 20-14 lead. The Bluejays trimmed the lead down to five points (23-18) with 3:15 left on the clock, but the Cardinals closed the half on a 14-1 run to open up a commanding 18-point advantage at the break.The Bluejays shot just 6-of-28 (21.4 percent) from the field in the game's opening 20 minutes.

The Bluejays' struggles continued in the second half as the Cardinals pushed their lead up to 26 points with 10:30 to play and cruised to the 20-point victory.

Elmhurst struggled on offense throughout the game. The Bluejays shot under 30 percent for the majority of the contest. A late flourish by Elmhurst had the squad finish the contest shooting 32.7 percent (17-of-52), including 25.0 percent (1-of-4) from downtown.

Nick Sanfor totaled 23 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Bluejays in the loss. Alex Morgunov came off the bench to score nine while Erik Dornfeld and D'Ante Foster both finished with six points apiece.

North Central shot 46.7 percent (21-of-45) from the floor but struggled from the foul line, hitting 59.5 percent (25-of-42) attempts.

The Cardinals' leading scorer, Derek Raridon was limited to only two points, but Brandon Williams picked up the slack, scoring 17 points while shooting 8-of-11 from the foul line. Landon Gamble added 13 points while Vince Kmiec scored 12. Jack Burchett came off the bench to total 11 points and a team-leading seven rebounds.

Elmhurst continues CCIW play on Saturday by traveling to Illinois Wesleyan University.