NAPERVILLE, Ill. - The Elmhurst University men's basketball team secured a season sweep of North Central Saturday evening, defeating the Cardinals 84-66 inside Gregory Arena.

Elmhurst (18-4, 10-3 CCIW) led the entire way on Saturday, using a balanced offense to handle the Cardinals (7-14, 5-7 CCIW).

John Ittounas led all scorers with 22 points, including six buckets from beyond the arc, while also adding six rebounds. Tagen Pearson scored 18 for the Bluejay offense, while Ocean Johnson tallied 12 points, eight rebounds, and four assists to continue his strong play. Jonathan Zapinski was the final Bluejay in double-digit scoring, tallying 11 points and grabbing eight boards to go with three blocks.

North Central was held to just 3-for-16 shooting beyond the arc, and shot just 39.3% from the field in the game, with just one player (Sean Molloy, 18 points) reaching double-digit scoring for the hosts.

With the score standing at just 16-14 in favor of Elmhurst with ten minutes to go in the opening period, the Bluejays would knock down a pair of treys and find their rhythym offensivley to open a 17-point lead with three minutes left, a lead that would shrink to nine at the intermission.

Throughout the second half, the Bluejay defense continued to be tough, forcing the Cardinals into tough shots and creating pressure, while the offense maintained a double-digit lead throughout the period to end with an 18-point road league victory.

UP NEXT

Elmhurst will stay on the road next Wednesday, Feb. 7, with the Bluejays set for a battle at Illinois Wesleyan for the top spot in the CCIW. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m.

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