PICTURED: Juwan Henry

Three different Vikings finished in double-figure scoring as North Park bounced back from a loss earlier in the week to earn an 81-69 hard-fought victory over a scrappy Illinois Institute of Technology squad Saturday afternoon.

After a setback to Alma College in Michigan Wednesday despite a career-high 37 points from sophomore Jordan Robinson, North Park responded in a colossal way as it shot nearly 50 percent in the second half. Robinson picked up right where he left off, scoring 20 points on 7 of 16 shooting, including a three-pointer. He also grabbed 13 rebounds to earn his first double-double of the season in 29 minutes. Junior Juwan Henry led NP with a game-high 22 points as he also finished with a double-double garnering 10 rebounds. Sophomore Colin Lake added 19 points as he connected for three three-pointers and had three assists.

What was a 37-28 North Park lead at halftime turned into as much as a 14-point advantage for the hosts as they opened the second half with a 7-0 scoring run fueled by baskets from Robinson, Lake and a transition Henry lay-up Henry off a steal from Michael Hutchinson.

To their credit however, IIT used a 15-4 spurt of its own to whittle the lead down to 48-45 after a pair of free throws from Anthony Mosley with 14:29 remaining, but the Vikings countered with an 8-4 clip to push the lead back to 56-49 after a lay-up from Hutchinson. From there the Scarlet Hawks didn't draw any closer than five points.

Despite being out-rebounded, North Park forced 18 turnovers and scored 13 points off the mistakes. They also garnered six points in transition and powered the ball inside to collect 40 points in the paint. Joe Biko came off the bench to score eight points in eight minutes as he was perfect from the field (3 of 3). Hutchinson added six points and three steals. Sam Rarick led IIT with 21 points.

North Park (3-2) returns to action Saturday Dec. 12 when it hosts Coe College at 4 p.m.