WHEATON, Ill. - The Elmhurst University men's basketball team fell in the 2023 CCIW Tournament Championship game to North Park, 75-83, Saturday evening inside King Arena.

The Bluejays led by five at the half, but the Vikings came out hot in the second half to surge past Elmhurst and win their first CCIW Tournament championship in program history.

Elmhurst (18-10, 8-8 CCIW) was paced by Tagen Pearson, who notched 18 points in the contest, while John Ittounas tallied 13 points and five assists on the evening. Matt Woloch added 12 for the Bluejays, while Ocean Johnson rounded out the scoring for Elmhurst with ten.

North Park (22-5, 13-3 CCIW) was led by Jalen Boyd's game-high 23 points, while Marquise Jackson tallied 15 points for the Vikings in the contest.

The game saw eight lead changes and ten times with the score being tied, with the deciding factor coming from points off of turnovers, with the Vikings scoring 22 points on 17 Bluejay turnovers. Shooting went cold for Elmhurst in the second half as well, with the Bluejays shooting just 34 percent from the field compared to North Park's 42 percent from the field. North PArk also took an advantage on the fast break, outscoring Elmhurst 17-6 in the category.

Both teams started even on the night, but the Vikings were able to open an eight-point lead with 12:57 left in the first half. The Bluejays responded in a big way, outscoring the Vikings 15-4 with an exclamation point trey from Johnson to take a 27-24 lead with 9:10 to go in the opening period.

North Park was able to make a run to knot the game at 32, but the Bluejays responded with a layup from Woloch and a trey from Ittounas to again extend their lead to seven with 1:49 to go. Woloch layed in a tough shot to end the half, giving Elmhurst a five-point lead heading into the intermission.

The Vikings came out fast in the second half, knotting the game at 48 before a five-point burst from the Bluejays, led by Woloch, kept the Bluejays in front early in the second period. After North Park again tied the game at 53, the two trams traded the lead six times in the next three minutes, with a three from Shamar Pumphrey putting North Park ahead by one with 12:50 to go. 

From there, a 13-1 run from the Vikings opened a 12-point lead with 6:34 left in the contest, but the Bluejays wouldn't go out without a fight. A pair of free throws from Jonathan Zapinski cut the deficit to six with five to go, but a mix of turnovers from Elmhurst and tough shots from the Vikings ultimatley swung the contest in favor of North Park.

UP NEXT

Elmhurst will look ahead to the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament selection show at 11 a.m. CT on Monday, Feb. 27, where the Bluejays look to gain an at-large bid to the tournament.

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