Box Score CHICAGO, Ill. – The Elmhurst men's basketball team led from start to finish while cruising to a 91-76 road victory over North Park University.
 
Elmhurst improved to 10-4 overall and 3-2 in the CCIW with the victory while North Park slid to 4-9 overall and 1-4 in league play. Elmhurst scored the game's opening basket and never trailed leading for 39:34 of the 40-minute contest.
 
Elmhurst raced out to a quick lead, opening the contest on a 15-2 run just four minutes into the contest. Trailing by 13 with 11 minutes remaining, North Park slowly clawed their way back into the contest, closing to within two points with 1:26 left to play in the half. Three pointers from Lance Gardner and Jake Rhode gave Elmhurst a 44-36 lead at the half. Rhode and Jeremy Ireland both reached double figures in scoring in the opening half, pumping in 10 points apiece to lead the Bluejays at halftime.
 
North Park started the second half with a quick three-pointer to pull to within five points, but the Vikings came no closer. A 9-2 run from Elmhurst pushed the Bluejays' lead up to 12 points with 15:34 remaining. The Bluejays pushed their lead up to 19 points with 11 minutes remaining and North Park came no closer than a 12-point deficit as Elmhurst cruised to the 15-point victory.

The Bluejays shot 56.4 percent from the floor (31-of-55) their second-highest single-game total of the season. The Bluejays hit 7-of-21 three-point attempts (33.3 percent) and 22-of-32 (68.8 percent) from the foul line. Elmhurst dominated inside, outrebounding North Park 37-24 while also outscoring the Vikings 46-24 in the lane. The Bluejays also outscored North Park 21-7 on the fast break.
 
Four players reached double figures in scoring to lead the Bluejays' attack. Rhode poured in a team-best 24 points while shooting 10-of-12 from the floor. Rhode added six rebounds and a game-high eight assists. Ireland finished with 18 points and seven rebounds while Lance Gardner came off the bench to total 14 points and seven rebounds. Ryan Patton added 13 points and four assists for the Bluejays.
 
North Park shot 42.9 percent from the floor in the loss, hitting 24-of-56 shots. The Vikings connected on 11-of-28 attempts from three-point range (39.3 percent) and 17-of-25 attempts from the foul line (68.0 percent). Colin Lake led North Park in the loss with 24 points, shooting 7-of-16 from the floor and 9-of-10 from the foul line. Billy Kirby added 18 points and Jason Hines came off the bench to score 11 for the Vikings.
 
Elmhurst travels to Carthage College on Saturday, January 13.