Despite being without its second-leading scorer in reigning CCIW Player of the Week Jordan Robinson, North Park used an all-around effort to pick up a solid 88-75 victory over visiting St. Mary's University of Minnesota Tuesday afternoon.

Freshman guard Colin Lake poured in a career-high 23 points as he connected on 6 of 11 shots, including three three-pointers. He also had an assist and three steals as North Park improved to 8-2, its best 10-game start since the 2002-'03 season when it opened at 9-1.

Sophomore Juwan Henry added a game-high 27 points. The speedy guard scored 14 of his 27 in the second half and was a big part in holding off a fierce Cardinals' comeback. St. Mary's captured a 65-62 advantage with 9:35 left in the contest, but a three-pointer from Henry sparked a 17-0 scoring run which gave the Vikings a 79-65 lead after 1 of 2 free throws from Michael Hutchinson at the 4:49 mark.

North Park used 12 of its 16 fast break points to take a 45-43 edge at halftime. Sophomore T.J. Cobbs had a pair of transition lay-ups off steals in the first half to highlight the effort. Cobbs, who ended up fouling out of the game unfortunately, had three steals and 13 points in 20 minutes off the bench.

In all, the Vikings out-rebounded St. Mary's 17-9 on the offensive glass and had 22 second chance points. North Park also dominated the inside with 32 points in the paint, and scored 33 points off 21 SMU turnovers.

North Park returns to action Saturday when it opens CCIW play with Millikin University at 7 p.m.