A cold shooting stretch in the second half spelled doom for North Park as the Vikings succumbed to North Central, 84-74 Saturday night. With the loss, the Vikings came up shy in their bid to garner the fourth and final spot in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin postseason tournament. The Vikings finished the season 14-11 overall and 6-8 in CCIW play, ending up fifth in the standings.
NPU started the game in explosive fashion by scoring the first eight points, however hampered by early foul trouble for star sophomore forward Jordan Robinson, who played only five minutes in the first half, the Vikings found themselves trailing 41-33 as they went into the locker room at intermission. The Vikings again came out of the gate hot, going on a 12-3 scoring run to take a 45-44 lead with 15:48 remaining on a Colin Lake three-pointer. Unfortunately, that was the peak of the game for the Vikings as they missed seven of their next eight shots from the field and both free-throw attempts during that stretch as well, as Cardinals reserve forward Kevin Honn sparked a 16-2 run for the visitors that gave them a 60-47 lead with 11:48 left. The Vikings would not prove able to get the NCC lead down to single digits again until the game's final minute, and they never got closer than eight.
North Park shot 41 percent from the field, but only 28 percent from downtown and 11 of 23 from the free-throw line. North Central out-rebounded North Park 41-34, but the Vikings did win the turnover battle, 13-6.
T.J. Cobbs and Jordan Robinson led NP with 18 points apiece, with Robinson contributing a team-high seven rebounds. CCIW leading scorer Juwan Henry struggled unfortunately, finishing with only 15 points, but he did dish out five assists and grabbed six rebounds. Michael Hutchinson, the lone senior on the roster, finished up his Senior Night performance with 10 points and three steals.
Honn led all scorers with 29 points off the bench for North Central, as he was joined in double figures by Connor Raridon with 12 and Jayme Moten with 10.
