North Park capped off its non-conference schedule with a tournament championship at the Purple and Gold Tournament at Defiance College after an 82-77 victory over Albion College in Defiance, Ohio Wednesday night.
Four different Vikings finished in double-figure scoring with sophomore sensation Jordan Robinson recording his seventh-straight game of 20 or more points as he tallied a game-high 26 points on 10 of 18 shooting, including three three-pointers. Robinson, who earned All-Tournament Team honors as well as Tournament MVP honors, also grabbed 14 rebounds for his fifth-straight double-double. Junior T.J. Cobbs added a season-high 20 points as he was nearly perfect from the field (6 of 7) while swiping four steals.
Facing Albion for the second time in the last two weeks – a first for NP facing the same opponent in the same season since the 1980 campaign – North Park held off a fierce rally from the Britons as they whittled a 69-59 North Park edge down to 79-77 with 48 seconds remaining. The Vikings withstood the pressure however as Cobbs rebounded what would've been a game-tying three-pointer with 12 seconds left and calmly converted the last of his nine free throws (7 of 9 overall).
In a game that saw nine ties and seven lead changes, the Vikings held a slim 39-38 edge at halftime after Colin Lake buried a three-pointer with 1:25 left in the first half. Albion did capture a 74-73 lead late in the game, but the Vikings closed out the final 2:12 with a 9-3 scoring run to earn their eighth win of the season.
Along with Robinson and Cobbs, junior Juwan Henry, who earned an All-Tournament Team selection, dished out eight assists – a night after recording a season-high 10 – and finished with 14 points. Lake added 12 points and Michael Hutchinson came off the bench to score eight points. Travell Oakes led Albion with 15 points while Jordan Herron added a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds.
North Park (8-3) returns to action Saturday when it travels to Naperville for a 7 p.m. contest with North Central College.
