CHICAGO, Ill. – The Elmhurst men's basketball team's upset bid of #18 North Park University came up just short in a 74-72 loss.
 
Elmhurst (5-10, 1-5 CCIW) trailed by as many as 14 points with just 11 minutes left to play before mounting a furious rally. The Bluejays ripped off eight straight points to close the deficit to just six points with eight minutes remaining. The Vikings bumped their lead back to nine points with 4:51 remaining after a Juwan Henry bucket, but Elmhurst answered back with seven straight points following buckets from Devin Tennant and Jalen Loving and a three-pointer from Derek Dotlich. Four straight points helped the Vikings reestablish a six-point cushion with two minutes remaining, but a jumper from Brian Kern and a layup from Marquis Carter brought Elmhurst back to within two with just 48 seconds remaining.

Elmhurst got the stop it needed on defense and called timeout with 15 seconds remaining, but the Bluejays were unable to get a shot off and a turnover helped the Vikings escape with the two-point victory.
 
The Bluejays shot 45.9 percent (28-of-61) from the floor in the loss and the Elmhurst bench outscored North Park's reserves 34-9. Kern came off the bench to give the Bluejays a spark. The freshman poured in a season-high 21 points while shooting 8-of-13 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from three-point distance. Tennant added 15 points and eight rebounds in the loss while Loving totaled 10 points and six boards. Austin Brown and Dotlich added six points apiece for the Bluejays.
 
The Vikings shot 41.7 percent (30-of-74) from the floor, but just 25.0 percent (7-of-28) from downtown. North Park's dynamic duo of Henry and Jordan Robinson combined for 52 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists. Robinson paced the Vikings with 34 points, 10 boards and five assists while shooting 14-of-24 from the floor. Henry hit 7-of-21 attempts to finish with 18 points while also added six rebounds. Joe Biko came off the bench to score nine for the Vikings.
 
Elmhurst hosts Augustana College on January 18.