The Harbinger Article

PALATINE, Ill. – Leadership is a quality on the basketball court that cannot always be quantified. In the case of Harper College point guard Marcus Gatlin (Chicago, Ill./Curie), his impact as a leader and star player was obvious on Tuesday night.

The sophomore poured in a career-high 27 points and dished out eight assists to lead the Hawks to a 73-65 come-from-behind victory over visiting Oakton Community College.

"Marcus Gatlin (Chicago, Ill./Curie) just wanted it. It was just one man who really wanted it," said Harper head coach Justin Welke. "He has a heart that's just so competitive. He's obviously a very good player, but winning and finishing with pride mean so much to him."

With the Hawks trailing 48-39 with 14:39 to play, Gatlin triggered a 20-1 Harper run over the next six minutes to give Harper a 59-49 lead. He found Connor Elzerman (Oxford, Mich./Oxford) for a layup to cut the deficit to 49-47, and his layup tied the game with 10:41 left.

On the next possession, Gatlin found Allias Burnett (Joliet, Ill. /Joliet West) to for a 3-pointer to give the Hawks their first lead of the game at 52-49 with 10:06 remaining. The next time down the court, the sophomore set up a teammate once again, finding Elzerman for a 3-pointer.

After a Maurice Brown (/Richards Career Academy) steal, Gatlin sank a pair of free throws, and Maurice Brown (/Richards Career Academy) scored on a layup to give the Hawks a 10-point edge. The Owls never got closer than six the rest of the game.

In addition to his 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting and eight assists, Gatlin snagged six rebounds and had four steals and was 7-of-8 from the foul line.

"For me personally, putting the work in the summer and having the ability to control the team is really important to me. Just making shots, just being in the zone. It was incredible," Gatlin said.