PALATINE, Ill. - The Harper College men's basketball team began their season on Wednesday with a loss to visiting South Suburban 77-54.  Garett Gatz (Elk Grove Village, Ill., Conant), the team's leading returning scorer, had a team-best 13 points.
                                                
“We knew what we were trying to do,” said head coach Anthony Amarino.  “They were physical and we just didn't match it.  They have good athletes and good shooters.  They're a tough team but I don't think we played anywhere near where we're capable of.”
 
Things started out well for Harper (0-1) as Connor Miklasz (Mt. Prospect, Ill., Hersey) set up Gatz for a 3-pointer to quickly put the Hawks in front.  A basket from Jordan Mack (Hillside, Ill., St. Joseph) tied the game at 5-5 with 17:05 left in the first half.  But from there, it was all South Suburban (1-0).  The Bulldogs, who are ranked 9^th in the preseason NJCAA Division II poll, responded with a 20-8 spurt over the next 9 minutes to seize control of the game.
 
Gatz drained 2 3-pointers in the final 1:33 of the first half to keep the Hawks in it.  The team came out scoring in the second half as a bucket and 2 free throws from Mack, 2 free throws from Miklasz, and 2 baskets from Chris Hicks (Elk Grove Village, Ill., Elk Grove) gave Harper 10 points in the first 4 minutes of the second half.  The only problem was that the Hawks allowed 11 in that span as the team was unable to prevent South Suburban from scoring for most of the night.
 
“We didn't get stops when we needed to,” Amarino said.  “At no time did we ever play defense like I think we're capable of.  They went anywhere that they wanted with the ball.   We didn't do anything that I think we should be doing defensively.  A good team like this will take advantage of it.  If you give them an open shot, they're going to him them.”
 
Harper will play its first game away from home on Saturday as the team travels to take on Kishwaukee College.  Tipoff is slated for 3:00 PM.