In one of their best defensive performances of the season, North Park forced 14 turnovers and scored 23 points off the mistakes en route to an 84-59 victory over visiting UW-Oshkosh Monday night in non-conference action.
More importantly though the Vikings swarming second-half defense led to only 5 of 25 shooting for the Titans, including 0 of 12 from the three-point line as NP built its lead to as much as 23 points before the final margin.
Sophomore guard Juwan Henry finished with a game-high 25 points as he led four different Vikings in double-figure scoring. T.J. Cobbs added 13 Michael Hutchinson 12 and Joe Biko came off the bench to tally 10 as North Park earned its sixth-straight victory overall and its sixth-straight at home.
North Park opened the game strong as it staked a 14-4 lead in the first five minutes after a lay-up from freshman Jordan Robinson, but UW-Oshkosh kept things even at halftime as it shot a blistering 52.2 percent from the field, connecting on 12 of its 23 shots to tie the score at 39-39 going into the break.
The Vikings then clamped down on defense and it befuddled the Titans as they missed five of their first six shots to open the second half. NP easily took advantage and put together an 8-2 scoring spurt to pull ahead 50-44 on a three-pointer from T.J. Cobbs.
In all, the Vikings out-scored UW-Oshkosh 14-4 in fast break points and connected on five of its nine three-pointers in the second half. Cobbs added five steals and Henry dished 10 assists as he recorded his second double-double of the season. Senior Garrett Gatz returned to the lineup after missing the last three games due to injury and was a perfect 3 of 3 from the three-point line for nine points. Alex Olson led Oshkosh with 15 points.
North Park (6-1) returns to action Wednesday when it travels to Hyde Park to take on the University of Chicago at 8 p.m.