North Park came up just short of its first CCIW victory this season as the Vikings suffered an 88-82 loss to host Wheaton College Wednesday night.

Despite a season-high 32 points from sophomore Juwan Henry, who went 11 of 27 from the field, the Vikings couldn't overcome the hot-shooting Thunder as Wheaton shot a blistering 70 percent in the second half. Four different players finished in double-figure scoring for the hosts, led by 19 points from Jonathan Berntsen.

After falling behind 13-8 early in the first half, North Park put together a 9-3 scoring run to claim a 17-16 lead on a three-pointer from freshman Jordan Robinson with 13:01 remaining. That was the last North Park would see the lead unfortunately though despite tying the game just before halftime. Wheaton led 40-37 at the break.

The Thunder controlled most of the second half and built their lead to 15 points, but NP fought its way back to trim the deficit to six after Henry converted on a pair of free throws with 8:58 remaining. The Vikings then made it a five-point game with eight seconds left when Henry connected for a three-pointer, but 1 of 2 free throws from Berntsen sealed the victory for the hosts.

Freshman Colin Lake added 20 points, and Robinson tallied 15 as the only other Viking in double-figure scoring. North Park also forced 28 turnovers, 14 coming off steals, and scored 35 points off the mistakes.

NP (9-6, 0-4) looks to rebound Saturday when it travels to Bloomington for a 7 p.m. contest with Illinois Wesleyan University.