PICTURED: Jordan Robinson
Four different players finished in double-figure scoring for Illinois Wesleyan Saturday night as the Titans snapped a three-game losing streak with an 87-79 win over North Park in CCIW action.
The Vikings suffered their third-straight conference loss as they moved their overall record to 6-7 in the conference, now in a fourth-place tie with IWU. NP must defeat North Central in its regular season finale Feb. 20 to make their first conference postseason tournament in program history.
Sophomore Jordan Robinson poured in a game-high 25 points on 10 of 20 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds for his third double-double in the last four games. Junior Juwan Henry added 22 points and senior Michael Hutchinson 16 as the only Viking in double-figure scoring.
NP unfortunately never led in the contest as the Titans put the clamps down early and built as much as a 10-point advantage in the game's opening six minutes. The Vikings did work their way back to close the deficit to one at 20-19 with a 13-4 burst capped off by an Armahn Mooring three-pointer, but IWU responded with a 20-2 clip to re-establish a 19-point lead and later a 42-27 margin at halftime.
To their credit, the Vikings didn't back down in the second half. Despite falling behind 54-29 four minutes into the final period, North Park used an 11-4 run highlighted by a Hutchinson lay-up and three-pointer coupled with lay-ups from Robinson and Henry to close the gap to 79-70 with 1:20 remaining, but the Titans converted on 6 of 8 free throws down the stretch to earn the win.
North Park (14-10, 6-7) hosts the Cardinals at 7 p.m. Saturday night.