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Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

Box Score

Jan. 13, 2010 - The North Central College men's basketball team came out on the short end of another close contest Wednesday, watching a seven-point lead evaporate as the North Park University Vikings surged down the homestretch and carried away a 75-70 victory at Gregory Arena.

The loss gives the Cardinals (7-7) an 0-3 start to College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin play, while North Park (8-6), after going 0-14 in CCIW games a year ago, is 2-1 against league opponents.

Neither team was able to establish much of an offensive rhythm early, and the first half ended in a 26-26 stalemate. North Park's Davone Robinson knocked down the first basket of the second period, but David Twyman took advantage of a slow Viking transition game and raced to the hoop for two straight layups. Brian Evans added a layup of his own and Twyman made a jumper in the paint as the Cardinals took a 34-28 lead.

Robinson's layup left the score at 38-37 with 16:38 left, but a rebound dunk by Twyman and a layup by Reid Barringer extended the North Central lead to five. North Park bounced back and took one-point leads on two occasions midway through the period, but two free throws by Jon Knapczyk nudged the hosts back in front. Twyman tacked on a pair of inside baskets, sandwiched around a layup by Evans, to give the Cardinals their biggest lead of the night at 61-54 with 6:10 left.

Four straight points by NPU's Emmanuel Crosby pulled the Vikings to within a single point (64-63) with 3:37 left, though Derek Raridon scored in the paint on the next trip down the floor. Crosby later scored on a tip-in before Roshawn Russell's three-pointer gave the Vikings a 68-66 edge.

Barringer sank a jumper to tie the score at 68-68, but Russell struck again from long range with less than a minute to go, pushing the guests ahead, 71-68. Twyman drove the lane for a layup and then fouled the Vikings' Nick Williams, who made both free throw attempts. Barringer's three-point attempt was off the mark, and North Park's Shaun Collins sank two more charity shots to put the game out of reach.

Twyman finished with career highs in scoring (27) and rebounding (13) for his third career double-double, and Evans notched his first career double-double with 11 points and 12 boards while also leading the team with six assists. Barringer scored 12 points and Raridon had 10.

Russell finished with a game-high 18 points for NOrth Park, which got 16 points from Crosby and 14 from Williams.

The Cardinals travel to Millikin University (6-8, 1-2 CCIW) on Saturday. TIpoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.