ROCKFORD, Ill. - The Harper College men's basketball team was tied late in the second half with Rock Valley and outscored the home team by 5 points after intermission, but it wasn't enough to rally the Hawks in a 74-67 defeat.

Connor Miklasz (Mount Prospect, Ill., Hersey) scored a season-high 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting to lead the way for the Hawks (7-10, 0-2 N4C).  Tyler Gaedele (Arlington Heights, Ill., Rolling Meadows ) added 15 points on five 3-pointers.

The Hawks started fast, racing to a 10-3 lead in the game's opening minutes.  Michael Rose (Rolling Meadows, Ill., Rolling Meadows) scored twice and coupled with 3-pointers from Gaedele and Garett Gatz (Elk Grove Village, Ill., Conant), Harper was in business.  But Rock Valley (11-7, 2-0) responded with an 11-0 run to take control.  The Eagles led by as many as 19 points in the first half.

Harper, however, made it a game in the second half, as two free throws from Miklasz cut the lead to 42-39 with 14:38 remaining.  The Hawks continued to battle, finally tying the game at 52-52 on a triple from Gaedele.  Miklasz's 3-pointer gave Harper a 55-54 lead with 8:19 left.  Rose's free throws with 2:29 left were the game's final tie at 67-67 as the Eagles scored the final seven points of the contest.

Kyoshiro Azumaya (Schaumburg, Ill., Hoffman Estates ) came off the bench to score seven points while dishing out a team-high five assists.  Rose had another solid game with eight points and ten rebounds.  Gatz scored nine points while John Lorenz (Elk Grove, Ill., Elk Grove) chipped in with seven points.  Quentin Canty scored 20 points off the bench to lead Rock Valley.

Up next, the Hawks host Wilbur Wright College (4-8, 0-2) on Wednesday in search for their first conference victory.  Tipoff is slated for 7:00 PM.