PICTURED: Jordan Robinson

North Park had victory snatched in the jaws of defeat as the Vikings' upset bid of No. 2 nationally-ranked Elmhurst College fell short in a 91-88 overtime loss Wednesday night.

The Vikings held a four-point advantage with 1:13 left after sophomore Jordan Robinson, who poured in a game-high 31 points, connected on a pair of free throws, but a missed free throw opportunity for NP with 28 seconds remaining followed by an Elmhurst game-tying jumper with eight seconds left forced the extra frame.

From there the Bluejays weren't going to be denied as they held off a fierce NP rally in the extra five minutes by closing the remaining 2:10 with a 6-3 scoring run to keep their CCIW record at an unblemished 6-0.

While Elmhurst led nearly wire-to-wire, the Bluejays couldn't sustain a lead larger than nine points. A three-pointer from junior Juwan Henry just before the halftime buzzer brought the Vikings within four at 44-40, and they later nearly erased Elmhurst's largest lead of the game at 66-57 with an 11-4 spurt to whittle the deficit to 70-68 after a three-pointer from Michael Hutchinson. A tip-in from Henry brought the visitors to within one at 73-72 at the 2:55 mark of the second and they captured their first lead of the game on a Robinson lay-up with 1:29 left.

Robinson grabbed 12 rebounds to garner his ninth double-double of the season while Henry tallied 30 points – his fourth 30-point game this season – on 12 of 25 shooting. Sophomore Colin Lake added 12 points as he connected on four three-pointers and had four steals. Erik Crittenden led Elmhurst with 19 points.

North Park (11-6, 3-3) returns to action Saturday night when it hosts Illinois Wesleyan for a 7 p.m. contest.