CHICAGO – A slow start was too much to overcome for Marian University men’s basketball (0-1, 0-0 NACC) falling at North Park 85-68.

  • North Park came out strong in its home opener taking an early 18-6 lead after 5:26 of action.
  • The Vikings maintained a double-digit lead for the remainder of the half building its lead out to as large as 22 points at 45-23 with 2:58 left in the stanza.
  • The Sabres had a strong start to the second half cutting its deficit down to 56-41 with 17:04 on the clock.
  • Marian trimmed its deficit to as low as 13 points with 10:57 in the game, but the Vikings responded with a quick 10-3 run to essentially ice the game.
  • The Sabres outscored North Park in the second half 37-34.
  • Marian shot 26-of-57 (.456) from the field in the game and went 6-of-9 (.667) from beyond the arc in the second half.
  • The Sabre defense had a tough time slowing down North Park as the Vikings went 35-of-67 (.522) from the field.
  • Marian committed 20 turnovers and it led NPU to outscore Marian 27-12 in points off turnovers.
  • North Park improves to 2-0 all-time against Marian after defeating the Sabres in Sadoff last season.