PICTURED: T.J. Cobbs
A total of four different players finished in double-figure scoring as North Park picked up its fourth win in the last five games with an 85-73 victory over Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia Monday afternoon.
Sophomore Jordan Robinson headed a quadruple attack as he notched a double-double of 23 points and a season-high 19 rebounds, 17 on the defensive glass. Junior Juwan Henry went for a game-high 26 points as he was a perfect 6 of 6 from the free throw line with five assists and three steals.
North Park staked a 9-0 lead in the opening six minutes of the contest after Robinson converted a three-point play and both Henry and Joe Biko knocked down jumpers, but Covenant College fought its way back by scoring 17 of the game's next 27 points to close the gap to 19-17 with just under six minutes left in the first half. The Vikings pushed their advantage back up 36-29 after Henry buried a three-pointer just before the halftime buzzer and they made it a 10-point game at 41-31 after senior Michael Hutchinson connected on a three-pointer in the opening minutes of the second half. But again CC used a 10-1 spurt to trim the deficit to 42-41 on a steal and basket at the 17:42 mark. The hosts then seized the lead for a six-minute span, building their advantage to as much as four points twice, but North Park overcame the deficit with a 11-2 run of its own to move back in front 60-55 after a pair of free throws from T.J. Cobbs with 7:58 remaining. Covenant managed to tie the score and take a 61-60 lead, but the Vikings closed out the game with a 21-4 spurt and built as much as a 16-point advantage in the final minute of the game.
Sophomore Colin Lake connected on three three-pointers to finish with 15 points while Cobbs added a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds, his first double-double of the season. Both Patjo Twagirayezu and Connor Sears led Covenant with 13 points each.
North Park (6-3) returns to action Dec. 29-30 at the Purple and Gold Tournament where they'll take on both Baldwin Wallace University (Dec. 29) and Defiance College (Dec. 30) in Ohio.
