ELMHURST, Ill. - The Elmhurst University men's basketball team ended their two-game skid with a resounding 80-59 win over Augustana College Wednesday evening inside R.A. Faganel Hall.

Elmhurst (14-3, 6-2 CCIW) rode opening scoring runs in both periods to handle the Vikings on their home court. The Bluejays particularly capitalized on the Augustana turnovers, scoring 26 off of 17 give-aways from the Vikings.

The Bluejays rode the hot hand of Ocean Johnson, who led all scorers with 28 points on 10-for-15 shooting from the field, with Johnson also tallying three rebounds and three assists. Jonathan Zapinski tallied 17 points and seven rebounds, also assisting on five made shots, while Tagen Pearson matched Zapinski in assists. As a team, Elmhurst tallied a season-high 26 assists on 30 made shots. 

Augustana (5-12, 2-6 CCIW) found 12 points each by Chase Larsen, Tyler Knuth, and Evan Ambrose.

Elmhurst burst out with a 15-4 opening run before Augustana tightened the lead to three with 8:45 to go. Johnson knocked down a pair of shots to move the Bluejay lead back to nine, which shrunk to seven at the halftime break with Elmhurst leading 30-23.

The Bluejays again started strong in the second period, opening with a 19-4 lead to extend the lead to 22 with 14:32 left. The Vikings would not go quietly, slowly punching into the Elmhurst lead to cut it to 11 with 5:33 left, but yet another Bluejay run saw Elmhurst pull away and notch the 21-point win over their conference foe.

UP NEXT

Elmhurst stays at home with a matchup against Millikin on Saturday, Jan. 20 at 4:15 p.m. CT to cap a doubleheader with the women's team.

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