Men's Basketball | 11/22/2016 9:24:00 PM
Box Score PICTURED: Juwan Henry
Double-doubles are a common occurrence for one of North Park's two D3hoops.com preseason All-Americans, but not the other. On Tuesday at the Stoltz Sports Center in Dubuque, Iowa however, the fans got two double-doubles for the price of one.
Senior guard Juwan Henry picked up only the second double-double of his illustrious career as he tallied 31 points and 10 rebounds in North Park's 81-77 victory over the University of Dubuque. Henry blocked three Spartan shots in the contest and junior forward Jordan Robinson also reached two digits in both categories for the second time in as many games this season, as he contributed 19 points and 12 boards for North Park.
The Vikings achieved a double-digit lead when the game was barely eight minutes old on the strength of a pair of Joe Biko three-pointers from the top of the key. The Vikings led by as many as 14 when Henry knocked down a three at the 9:24 mark to make the score 25-11, and NPU carried a 45-36 lead into the locker room at halftime.
NP again built the lead back to 14 when Colin Lake buried a baseline jumper from the left side off a Darius Brown feed to make it 53-39 with 17:11 remaining in the game. But at that point the Spartans came alive in a stretch in which they dominated the boards against the smaller Vikings; Dubuque went on an 8-0 run over the next two and a half minutes to cut the lead to six, and the lead would never reach double digits again. The Spartans rode the hot hand of freshman guard Jalen Jackson from behind the arc and tied the game at 58-58 with 11:11 left, and then took their first lead of the game 52 seconds later on a driving layup by Jamaree Atwater.
The Spartans extended then their new lead to as much as six, when Atwater caromed in a layup high off the glass at the 8:56 mark to make it Dubuque 67, North Park 61. But NPU regrouped and the Vikings went on a 9-2 run over the next 2:30 to tie the game at 70 for the first in what would prove to be a sequence of three-straight ties off of traded baskets.
At that point North Park took over the game for good. Henry missed a driving layup, but Robinson snared the rebound and his put back at 3:40 gave the Vikes a lead that they would never relinquish. A Henry free throw at 2:38 and a Lake three-pointer from the right wing at 1:51 extended the lead to 80-74. Jackson hit yet another deep trey with 1:35 left to cut the NPU lead in half, but it would prove to be the only points the Spartans scored in the last four and a half minutes. Henry snared a defensive rebound with 21 seconds left, and after immediately being fouled made the front end of a one-and-one when the ball struck the heel of the rim, bounced straight up into the air, and came down perfectly through the cylinder to give the Vikings a two-possession lead and the ballgame.
Lake contributed 11 points and dished five assists while Brown matched his career high with eight points and reached a new career best with eight rebounds. Atwater led the Spartans (1-1) with 20 points.
The Vikings (2-0) return to the hardwood on Saturday, November 26, when they entertain Adrian College in their season home opener at North Park Gymnasium. Tipoff is at 6 pm.
