PALATINE, Ill. – Harper College sophomore guard Abdul Mushtaq (Wheeling, Ill./Wheeling) put on a shooting clinic on Thursday night.  Mushtaq canned eight 3-pointers and scored a career-high 26 points, as the Hawks shot over 50 percent on the night and held on for a 97-90 win over visiting Olive-Harvey College.

The Hawks (7-7) shot 56.7 percent (17-of-30) from the field in the first half and led 49-25 at the break. Mushtaq had four 3-pointers and 12 points in the half, and Connor Elzerman (Oxford, Mich./Oxford) and Marcus Gatlin (Chicago, Ill./Curie) were both in double figures by halftime with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Harper maintained a big lead through much of the second half as Mushtaq continued pouring it on. The sophomore buried a triple to give the Hawks a 71-47 lead with 11:30 left. He followed that up with another 3-pointer, a steal, pair of free throws, and another 3-pointer from the corner to put Harper ahead 83-59 with 7:13 remaining.

Things got dicey in the closing minutes as the Panthers (7-7) chipped away at the lead. Brennell Pendelton knocked down two free throws with 2:06 left to cut the Harper lead to 87-79 with 2:06 left, and Devin Flowers capped off a 22-4 run with a layup to make it 87-81 with 1:58 remaining.

Sophomore leadership was crucial down the stretch as Allias Burnett (Joliet, Ill. /Joliet West) hit two free throws and scored a layup, and Gatlin was 6-of-8 from the foul line to preserve the win.  The closest the Panthers got was four points (94-90) after a Randell Taylor 3-pointer with 17 seconds left in the game.

Four Hawks scored 18 or more points in the game, led by Mushtaq's 26. Burnett had 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting, and Gatlin scored 20 points to go along with six rebounds and five assists. Elzerman scored 18 points (6-of-11) shooting and collected six rebounds.

Olive-Harvey shot 56.8 percent in the second half and outscored the Hawks 65-48 in second stanza. Five players reached double figures in scoring, led by 19 points from Travis McBride. Tyrone Hilson had a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds.

The Hawks continue their homestand with a game against College of Lake County (6-6) on Tuesday, Dec. 22 at 7 PM.