Even in a hostile environment, the poise of the North Park men's basketball team is at its utmost. 

Led by a 21-point performance from sophomore Juwan Henry and a late three-point play from Jordan Robinson – part of a 17-point effort from the freshman – the Vikings defended the current longest CCIW winning streak with a 72-66 victory over host Millikin University Saturday night.

The Vikings overcame an early seven-point deficit and earned their fifth-straight victory to improve to 5-6 overall in the conference, the most CCIW victories for an NPU team since the 2009-10 season.

Since opening the conference slate with an 0-6 mark, North Park has reeled off five-straight wins and is doing it with a tremendous amount of confidence. While NP has some select players highlighting the stat sheet each night, a collaborative effort has been the key to the Vikings' ultimate success which has put them only one game back from qualifying for the CCIW postseason tournament.

After Michael Hutchinson gave NP a 63-55 advantage, its largest lead of the night, on a jumper with 3:56 left, Millikin – to its credit – made a furious comeback using an 11-2 scoring run to close the gap to 67-66 on a pair of free throws from TJ Sims. On the Vikings' ensuing possession a missed Henry jumper gave the hosts a near opportunity to re-capture the lead, but a huge offensive rebound from Robinson led to a putback and a foul on Millikin giving the freshman an opportunity at a three-point play which he didn't miss. Two free throws from Hutchinson after a crucial Millikin turnover and a missed three-point jumper then sealed the victory for the visitors.

Both teams were in a seesaw battle throughout as the contest saw nine ties. North Park held a close 37-35 edge at halftime after overcoming an early 19-12 deficit. Millikin fought its way back into the game when it tied it at 53-all with 6:53 left, but the Vikings finished out the last 6:31 scoring 19 of the game's final 32 points.

Along with Henry and Robinson, T.J. Cobbs added 13 points on 5 of 9 shooting. He also went 3 of 3 from the free throw line where as a team the Vikings converted on 80 percent (12 of 15) of their attempts. Hutchinson had a near double-double of 10 points and nine rebounds. Sims led Millikin with 18 points.

North Park (14-8, 5-6) returns to action Wednesday night when it travels to Elmhurst College for a 7 p.m. contest with the Bluejays.