ELMHURST, Ill. – The Elmhurst men's basketball team led for over 30 minutes of play, but the Bluejays' upset bid came up short against #23 North Park University, falling 70-62.
 
Elmhurst (6-13, 2-8 CCIW) fell behind 11-7 five minutes into the contest, but the Bluejays used a 19-5 run over the next nine minutes to open up a 10-point cushion at 26-16. North Park (15-4, 8-2 CCIW) closed to within a point with less than a minute remaining, but Derek Dotlich drained a three-pointer to give Elmhurst a 35-31 lead at the half.
 
Elmhurst pushed its lead back to double-digits at 51-41 with 12:24 remaining in the second half, but the Vikings rattled off eight straight points in 45 seconds to slice Elmhurst's lead down to two points. Elmhurst built its advantage back to six points after a Dotlich three-pointer with 6:30 left to play, but the Vikings responded with a 14-0 run over the next six minutes to surge in front with a 66-58 lead. The Vikings hit four three-pointers in the stretch while Elmhurst missed three shots and turned the ball over three times.
 
Elmhurst outshot North Park 40.7 percent (24-of-59) to 37.3 percent (22-of-59) in the contest. Both teams struggled from long distance as Elmhurst shot 30.4 percent (7-of-23) and North Park hit just 28.1 percent (9-of-32) of its three-point attempts.  North Park made the most of off Elmhurst's mistakes, converting 14 Elmhurst turnovers into 23 points.
 
Dotlich led Elmhursst in the loss with 15 points while Caleb Mowry came off the bench to score 14. Jalen Loving added 11 points while Marquis Cater, Ryan Patton and Devin Tennant all scored six. Tennant collected a team-leading seven rebounds in the loss.
 
Billy Kirby fueld North Park with 19 points, hitting 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. Slowed by foul trouble, Jordan Robinson finished with 16 points and a game-high nine rebounds while Colin Lake totaled 15 points and seven boards. T.J. Cobbs added 10 points for the Vikings.
 
Elmhurst hosts Carthage College on Wednesday, February 1.