The Harper College men’s basketball team couldn’t stop its losing skid on Saturday afternoon, falling to Wilbur Wright College in a close contest, 71-66.
The Hawks (10-16, 1-9 N4C) trailed 31-27 at halftime. The highlight of the first half came right at the end, as point guard Marcus Gatlin (Chicago, Ill./Curie) knocked home a half-court shot at the buzzer.
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Gatlin’s three-point play with 17:02 left in the game tied it at 37-37, but the Rams (2-22, 1-9 N4C) never let the Hawks lead in the entire second half. Wilbur Wright’s biggest lead was 62-54 with 4:55 to play after a pair of Ryan Cook (10 points) free throws. The Hawks got to within three with under a minute left but never had a chance to tie the game with a 3-pointer.
Allias Burnett (Joliet, Ill. /Joliet West) paced Harper with a game-high 23 points (11-of-21 shooting) and seven rebounds. Gatlin scored 19 points, grabbed six rebounds, and dished out four assists. Abdul Mushtaq (Wheeling, Ill./Wheeling) knocked down five 3-pointers and scored 15 points. The Hawks shot 45.6 percent (26-of-57) overall.
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The Rams got 21 points (9-of-14 shooting) and 11 rebounds from Darryl Nellum and 17 points from Antonio Allison. Jelani Ward added 16 points (10-of-11 free throws) and eight rebounds. Wilbur Wright shot 42 percent (21-of-50) and held a 40-19 rebounding advantage over Harper.
The Hawks return to the court on Wednesday evening as they travel to College of DuPage (15-9, 3-7 N4C) for a 7 PM tip. The Chaparrals defeated the Hawks 82-60 on Jan. 16 at Harper College.
