North Park vs. Ill. Wesleyan FULL GAME Replay

It takes heart to become a champion, and although the North Park men's basketball team is not quite at that level yet, they took a giant step forward Senior Night Saturday against visiting Illinois Wesleyan.

North Park took to heart the importance of the CCIW contest with the Titans, upending IWU 85-83 for their sixth conference win in the last seven games, and the third-straight upset victory over a nationally-ranked opponent in the last three weekends.

NP overcame a slim 40-38 halftime deficit and took the lead for good on a three-pointer from freshman Jordan Robinson, who finished with a game-high 28 points, at the 15:07 mark of the second half. Robinson's three capped a quick 9-4 spurt for the Vikings as NP never let IWU draw any closer than one the rest of the way.

The Vikings enjoyed their largest lead of the night at 72-62 when freshman Colin Lake buried a three-pointer at the top of the key, electrifying the Viking faithful. Illinois Wesleyan – to its credit – used a 13-5 scoring run to close the gap down to 77-75 on a three-point play with 49 seconds remaining, but crucial free throw shooting from Juwan Henry, Robinson and Lake sealed the victory for the hosts.

Along with Robinson, Henry added 24 points and Cobbs tallied 14 as he went a perfect 10 of 10 from the free throw line. Lake added 11 points and four steals. Bryce Dolan led the Titans with 23 points.

Prior to the contest, the North Park men's basketball family recognized its two outstanding seniors in Trent Kucera and Michael Wilson for the hard work and dedication they've given to the program in their time as student-athletes.

North Park (15-9, 6-7) now finishes out the regular season at North Central College Saturday at 7 p.m. If the Vikings win, they'll qualify for their first CCIW postseason tournament in program history.