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

Box Score

Dec. 8, 2018 - The perfect start to the North Central College men's basketball team's season came to an end after six games on Saturday, as the Cardinals ran into a North Park University team which was dialed in shooting the ball all night long and departed Gregory Arena with a 95-88 victory.

Primarily utilizing a mix of dribble drives to the basket and precise perimeter shooting, the Vikings connected on 59.2 percent of their field-goal attempts in the game (29 of 49) and shot at a 68.2 percent clip (15 of 22) in the second half. North Central (6-1, 2-1 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) had not allowed an opponent to shoot better than 50 percent from the floor previously this season.

The lead changed hands 13 times in the first half, including each of the final three possessions of the period. The Vikings (3-7, 2-1 CCIW) went into halftime with a 33-32 advantage after Toby Marek's fallaway 17-foot jumper at the buzzer.

After four more lead changes in the first eight minutes of the second half, North Central got a three-pointer from Aaron Jones and a jumper by Mat Cappelletti on consecutive possessions to take a 57-54 lead with 10:54 to play. Marek countered with two free throws and a layup to briefly seize the lead before two Connor Raridon free throws wound up giving the hosts their final lead of the night at 61-60. The score was tied twice in the next two minutes before the Vikings scored at least one point on nine straight possessions, the last of which left the score at 81-75 in North Park's favor with 2:38 on the clock.

The lead never dipped below four points the rest of the way as the Vikings preserved their lead by making 13 of 14 free throws in the final two minutes and 28 of 32 charity shots in the second half.

Marek led all scorers with 29 points, while Kindrel Morris finished with 15 and Vegard Tangen scored 14.

Blaise Meredith finished as the Cardinals' leading scorer, achieving a career high for the second straight game with 22 points.Raridon totaled 18, while Cappelletti put up 15, Mike Pollack scored 14, and Will Clausel reached double figures for the first time in his collegiate career with 11 points. 

North Central closes out a four-game homestand by hosting Aurora University (2-3) in non-conference play on Wednesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.