NAPERVILLE, Ill. - The Elmhurst men's basketball team dropped its second consecutive game for the first time this season after falling 56-45 to 17th-ranked North Central College.

Elmhurst, ranked eighth in the latest D3hoops.com poll, slipped to 18-4 overall and 9-4 in the CCIW with the loss. North Central improved to 17-4 overall and 10-2 in league play. Elmhurst slid into third-place in the CCIW standings with the loss, falling a game behind Augustana in the league standings. 

North Central scored the first our points and never trailed in the contest, leading wire-to-wire as Elmhurst struggled with its shooting all night long. The Cardinals opened up a 34-15 lead at halftime while the Bluejays hit only 4-of-23 shots from the floor (17.4 percent) and turned the ball over nine times in the opening half. 

The Cardinals increased their lead to 21 early in the second half, before Elmhurst ripped off a 14-3 run to close the gap to 11 with 12 minutes remaining. Elmhurst pulled to within eight points with 2:41 remaining but came no closer as the Cardinals pulled away for the 11-point win.

Elmhurst finished the game shooting 15-of-53 from the floor, finishing at a season-low 28.3 percent. The Bluejays knocked down 7-of-23 attempts (30.4 percent) from beyond the arc. 

Jake Rhode led Elmhurst in the loss with 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Lavon Thomas added 11 points and a team-leading eight rebounds while Dominic Genco came off the bench to score 10 points. 

North Central finished the contest hitting 37.5 percent (21-of-56) of its shots, including 29.2 percent (7-of-24) from downtown. The Cardinals outrebounded the Bluejays 44-33 and outscored the Bluejays 24-12 in the paint. 

Matt Cappelletti led the Cardinals with a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds. Matt Helwig added 12 points while Aiden Chang scored 10.

Elmhurst travels to Illinois Wesleyan University on Wendesday, February 12.