Box Score PALATINE, Ill. – Injury and illness limited the Harper College men's basketball team to just six available players on Thursday night, but the Hawks dug deep and led from start to finish in a 60-53 victory over Richard J. Daley College.
 
Harper (7-8) went on a 9-0 run to start the game and Daley (5-8) never got closer than five points the rest of the game.  The Bulldogs also only dressed six players.
 
Charles Wright (Cheyenne, Wyo., Cheyenne East), who led the Hawks with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting, scored twice from in close during the opening minutes of the game, and Garett Gatz (Elk Grove Village, Ill., Conant) hit an NBA-range 3-pointer to get the team going.
 
Gatz finished with 14 points and though he struggled from long distance, he still managed to find ways to score.  John Lorenz (Elk Grove, Ill., Elk Grove) found Gatz for a layup plus a foul with 1:12 left in the first half and Gatz added a runner with one second before intermission for a 35-24 halftime lead.
 
The Hawks looked to be pulling away to start the second half as Connor Miklasz (Mount Prospect, Ill., Hersey) found Lorenz for a three-pointer just 19 seconds in but Daley went on a 7-0 run to stay close.  Wright then scored Harper's next six points and after a Lorenz bucket, the lead was back up to 13 points with 12:07 remaining.
 
Ryan Burch, who led Daley with 12 points, sank two free throws that were part of a 6-0 run that drew the Bulldogs within five at 56-51 with 1:25 left.
 
But Miklasz and Gatz each knocked down two free throws to close out the game for the Hawks.
 
Lorenz scored 15 points while Miklasz added seven points and six assists for a Hawks squad that shot 38.9% (23-of-59) but held the Bulldogs to 36% (18-of-50) from the field.  Wright grabbed a team-high six rebounds, but Harper was outrebounded 31-22.
 
Up next, Harper will open N4C play with a trip to Joliet on Wednesday.  Tipoff is slated for 7:00 PM.