Chicago, Ill. - The Alma College men's basketball team suffered an 88-81 setback at North Park University on Wednesday (Nov. 30) night in its third straight non-conference game against an opponent from the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW). Alma is now 1-5 overall and has dropped five straight, while North Park remained undefeated and extended its record to 4-0.

Freshman Preston Laketa (Concord, Mich./Hanover-Horton) led the Scots with a season-high 21 points, hitting 9 of his 18 shots, while senior Tyler Edwards (Flint, Mich./Swartz Creek) contributed 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting and collected nine rebounds.

Senior Chase Fairchild (Rockford, Mich./Rockford), along with freshmen Luke Lamoreaux (Sterling Heights, Mich./Stevenson) and Steven Harvey (Grand Rapids, Mich./Ada) netted 12 points each, while senior Trevor Gernaat (McBain, Mich./Northern Michigan Christian/Mid-Michigan CC) grabbed nine rebounds.

Alma outshot the Vikings, making 43.1 percent of its shots, and hit 40 percent (12-30) of its three point attempts for the game, including 9-for-17 shooting from behind the arc in the second half. The Scots also out rebounded North Park, 29-20, as the Vikings had three players score 20 or more points.

North Park opened the first half and jumped out to a five-point lead less than five minutes in before Laketa entered the game and fueled an 11-0 run for Alma, scoring nine of the Scots' 11 points to give Alma a 16-10 advantage with 12:39 remaining in the opening period. Alma built up a nine-point lead with just over seven minutes to play before the Vikings stormed back with a 9-0 run to pull ahead with two and a half minutes remaining. The Scots regained the lead on a three-pointer by Harvey, but North Park responded to tie the game on a jumper from Juwan Henry, then took the lead with 52 seconds remaining after Jarvis Cannon made a layup to give the Vikings a 30-28 advantage. Edwards tied the game again with a layup before Colin Lake gave North Park a 32-20 advantage entering the half.

In the second half, the Vikings raced out to a 10-point lead with 16:46 to play in the game. Alma got within three points at 44-41 with 15:28 to play, but North Park responded, regaining a nine-point advantage. The Scots closed the gap to three points again at 58-55 with 9:31 to play, but the Vikings repelled the comeback attempt with an 11-0 run, giving North Park a 69-55 advantage with 7:48 to play.

Alma made things interesting in the end when Lamoreaux hit a three-pointer to cut the North Park lead to three points with 29 seconds remaining, but a pair of free throws by Colin Lake put the Vikings up by five at 84-79. Lamoreaux cut to the basket for a layup with 15 seconds left to bring Alma back to within three points, but another pair of free throws by Lake gave North Park an 86-81 advantage with 13 seconds to play. The Scots missed a three-point shot on their next possession, and North Park made its two free throw attempts to seal the victory.

Alma will be idle until Saturday, Dec. 17, when it hosts Wheaton College (IL) at Art Smith Arena. Tip off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on the campus of Alma College.