NAPERVILLE, Ill. – The Elmhurst men's basketball team's 13-game winning streak and unblemished CCIW record both came to a halt in an 80-62 road loss at North Central College.

Elmhurst, ranked second in the latest D3hoops.com poll, slipped to 16-2 overall and 6-1 in the CCIW with the loss.

The Bluejays scored the game's opening bucket on a Kyle Wuest layup, but North Central responded by scoring the next 10 points to open up an eight-point cushion. Elmhurst answered back with a 10-2 run to even the score at 12-12. The Bluejays pulled even three more times in the opening half, evening the score at 22-all following a Wuest layup with five minutes to play. The Cardinals answered back with a 13-2 run, surging in front 35-24. A put-back bucket from Wuest just before the horn brought Elmhurst to within nine points (35-26) at halftime.

North Central, ranked 25th in the latest D3hoops.com poll, took control of the contest with a quick run to start the second half. The Cardinals opened the first 3:30 of the half with a 15-4 to blow the game open with a 20-point lead at 50-30. Elmhurst sliced the deficit down to 13 points with just over 14 minutes remaining after Peyton Wyatt splashed home a three-pointer, but the Cardinals responded with a 10-0 run over the next 2:30 to grab a 21-point cushion at 61-40 with 11 minutes remaining. Elmhurst came no closer than 16 points for the remainder of the contest, while the Cardinals pulled away for the 18-point victory.

The Bluejays suffered through a poor shooting night, hitting just 34.8 percent (24-of-69) of its shots from the floor. Elmhurst hit 6-of-19 (31.6 percent) from downtown and just 8-of-16 (50.0 percent) from the foul line.

Wuest led the way for Elmhurst in the loss, scoring a team-high 15 points while pulling down five rebounds. Will Nixon added a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds while Wyatt and Brandon Schwebke each came off the bench to score six points apiece.

North Central (13-5, 6-1 CCIW) shot over 50.0 percent from the floor, hitting 28-of-54 attempts (51.9 percent). The Cardinals knocked down 9-of-24 attempts from downtown (9-of-24) in the victory while also outrebounding the Bluejays 41-39.

All five of North Central's starters reached double figures in scoring. Jagger Anderson paced the Cardinals in the victory with 20 points while shooting 7-of-11 from the floor. Alex Sorenson added 19 points and nine rebounds while Connor Raridon scored 15. Jayme Moten chipped in with 12 points while Erwin Henry scored 10.

With the loss, Elmhurst moved into a three-way tie for first-place in the CCIW with North Central and Augustana. Each team completed the first half of the CCIW schedule with a 6-1 record.

Elmhurst travels to Augustana College on Wednesday, January 27.