ELMHURST, Ill. – The Elmhurst University men's basketball team avenged an early-season loss by hammering North Park University 89-59 at R.A. Faganel Hall.
 
Elmhurst, ranked 19^th in the latest D3hoops.com poll, improved to 14-5 overall and 6-4 in the CCIW with the victory.
 
Elmhurst trailed by two just three minutes into the game, but the Bluejays rattled off a 18-5 run to open up an 11-point cushion midway through the opening half. Elmhurst continued to pull away, closing the half on a 19-5 run to open up a 44-19 lead at the half.
 
Elmhurst led by 22 with 14 minutes left in the second half when North Park (8-9/3-6 CCIW) responded with a 10-0 run to slice Elmhurst's lead down to 12 with 10 minutes remaining. The Bluejays took over down the stretch, outscoring North Park 27-9 over the final 10 minutes to cruise to the 30-point victory.
 
Elmhurst shot an even 50.0 percent (33-of-66) from the floor in the victory, including 41.7 percent (1-of-24) from 3-point range. The Bluejays dominated on the glass, outrebounding the Vikings 46-26. Elmhurst turned 20 offensive rebounds into 19 second-chance points.  North Park shot 42.1 percent (24-of-57) from the field, but just 48.6 percent (4-of-14) from downtown and 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from the foul line.
 
Four players reached double figures in scoring to pace Elmhurst's attack. Lavon Thomas led the way with a game-high 19 points while collecting six rebounds. Thomas shot 8-of-12 from the floor in the win. Jake Rhode added 16 points and four assists while Jay Militello scored 15 points and tallied four steals. Wesley Hooker finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals. Hunter Merritt came off the bench to hit three 3-pointers and finish with nine pints. Ocean Johnson finished with eight points and five rebounds for the Bluejays. Jonathan Zapinski added eight rebounds and three blocked shots for Elmhurst.
 
North Park was led by Gabe Johnson's 14 points while Izaiah Sanders finished with 12 points and four steals. Jalen Boyd added 10 points for the Vikings.
 
Elmhurst hosts Carthage College on Monday, January 31 at 7:00 p.m.