ELMHURST, Ill. – The Elmhurst men's basketball team snapped a two-game skid with an impressive 85-56 over Millikin University.
Elmhurst, ranked sixth in the latest D3hoops.compoll, improved to 17-3 overall and 7-2 in the CCIW with the victory. Millikin slid to 6-14 overall and remained winless in the CCIW (0-9).
Elmhurst took control of the contest early in the opening half. Trailing 7-4 after just three minutes of play, the Bluejays ripped off the next 14 points over the next 6:30 of play to build an 11-point cushion. Millikin cut the lead down six points with seven minutes left in the half, but Elmhurst scored seven straight to build a 13-point cushion after a Kyle Wuest three-pointer. The Bluejays led 38-25 at the half.
Leading by 18 points with 14:30 left to play, Elmhurst used a 24-10 run over the next 9:30 of action to blow the game open and build a 32-point cushion before cruising to the 29-point victory. Elmhurst led for nearly 35 minutes of the contest.
After two consecutive games with sluggish shooting, Elmhurst was clicking on all cylinders against the Big Blue. The Bluejays shot 58.9 percent from the floor and 50.0 percent from three-point range, knocking down 33-of-56 attempts from the field and 10-of-20 from downtown. The Bluejays were also dominant on the glass, outrebounding Millikin 39-21. Elmhurst also outscored Millikin in the paint 34-14.
Kenny Payonk came off the bench to score a career-high 16 points while leading the Bluejays in the victory. He shot 7-of-8 from the floor while also collecting six rebounds. Kyle Wuest added 15 points, shooting 6-of-9 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from downtown. Wuest added a game-high five assists in the win. Will Nixon finished with 13 points, scoring all of them in the second half. Peyton Wyatt and Pat Coleman added nine points apiece while Erik Crittenden scored eight for the Bluejays.
Millikin shot 36.5 percent (19-of-52) from the floor, including 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from downtown. TJ Griffin paced Millikin in the loss, finishing with 12 points and five assists. Nathan Lovekamp came off the bench to score 11 for the Big Blue.
Elmhurst hosts Carthage on Wednesday, February 3. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.