CHICAGO, Ill. – Jeremy Ireland scored a career-high 30 points to lead the Elmhurst men's basketball team to a 91-64 blowout win over North Park University.

Elmhurst upped its record to 12-10 overall and 7-6 in the CCIW with the victory.
 
The Bluejays scored the first four points of the game and opened the contest by outscoring North Park 16-2 over the first five minutes of action. Elmhurst never looked back and never trailed in the contest. North Park came no closer than an 11-point deficit for the final 35 minutes of action. The Bluejays led by as many as 23 points in the first half and carried a 46-26 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
Elmhurst extended its lead to 29 points with 12 minutes left to play in the contest, before North Park (4-18, 2-11 CCIW) mounted a 22-7 run over the next five minutes to close to within 15 points with seven minutes remaining.  Elmhurst quickly pushed its lead back over 20 points before coasting to the 27-point win over the Vikings.
 
Ireland enjoyed a career-night, finishing with a double-double of 30 points and 11 rebounds to pace the Bluejays. He shot 13-of-18 from the floor in the victory. Derek Dotlich added 15 points for the Bluejays while Ryan Patton came off the bench to score 14, connecting on four three-pointers. Jake Rhode added 11 points, six assists and five rebounds in the win. In total, 12 different Bluejays put points on the scoreboard in the victory.
 
Elmhurst controlled the action inside, outscoring North Park 40-20 in the paint while outrebounding the Vikings 45-38. The Bluejays shot 54.1 percent (33-of-61) from the floor, including 38.5 percent (10-of-26) from beyond the arc.
 
North Park struggled with its shooting, hitting just 35.7 percent of its shots (25-of-70). The Vikings connected on just 8-of-31 attempts from three-point range (25.8 percent). Toby Marek led North Park in the loss with 16 points while Matt Szuba finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.
 
Elmhurst travels to Illinois Wesleyan University on Saturday, February 9. Illinois Wesleyan and Elmhurst are currently tied for fourth place in the CCIW standings with identical 7-6 league records. The third and fourth-place teams in the CCIW standings earn the right to host a first-round CCIW Tournament game.