Daily Herald Article

PALATINE, Ill. – The North Central Community College Conference (N4C) is one of the strongest junior college basketball conferences in the nation. The Harper men's basketball team welcomed its third ranked N4C foe, No. 9 Joliet Junior College, to campus in a span of two weeks.

The Hawks (10-11, 1-4 N4C) played 20 minutes of solid basketball against the Wolves (15-5, 4-1 N4C), but Joliet was just too much to handle as they pulled away late for a 79-50 win.

Harper's Abdul Mushtaq (Wheeling, Ill./Wheeling) and Marcus Dover (/Conant) kept Harper in the game in the first half. Mushtaq knocked down four 3-pointers in the first half, and Dover scored nine points and cleaned the glass with six boards. While Joliet led for most of the first half, Dover's layup tied the game at 31-31 with 3:34 left.

The Wolves closed the half impressively, though, as big man Patrick Kenny scored six straight points, and point guard Darius Wells (game-high 20 points) beat the buzzer from 27 feet to push the visitors' lead to 40-31.

The Hawks played the second half without the services of top scorer Allias Burnett (Joliet, Ill. /Joliet West) (18.9 PPG), who was nursing an injury and would not return. Burnett netted a season-low six points on 3-of-9 shooting. Joliet also played solid defense on Marcus Gatlin (Chicago, Ill./Curie), who was held to just nine points on 2-of-14 shooting. Gatlin contributed five rebounds and five steals as well.

Early in the second half, the Wolves gained steam with an 18-2 run, capped by a Robert Brooks (10 points) 3-point to make it 60-37 with 8:26 left. Joliet shot an impressive 57.6 percent clip (34-of-59) in the game.

Mushtaq and Dover led Harper with 15 points each. The Hawks shot 33.3 percent (19-of-57) on the night.

The Hawks will have a tough test on the road this Saturday as they travel to Milwaukee Area Technical College (16-4, 3-2 N4C). The Stormers are among others receiving votes in the latest NJCAA poll.  Tipoff in Milwaukee is scheduled for 3 PM.