JOLIET, Ill. – The sixth-seeded Harper College men's basketball team gave third-seeded Joliet Junior College a major challenge in the NJCAA Region IV Quarterfinals on Wednesday night. In two prior matchups, the Wolves defeated the Hawks by a combined 49 points. In the bid for the upset, Harper came up just short and saw its season end with an 87-77 loss.

The Hawks (11-20) got off to a very solid start in taking a 19-13 lead in the early stages, led by six points from sophomore Abdul Mushtaq (Wheeling, Ill./Wheeling). The Wolves (22-9) finally tied it at 28-28 on a pair of Pat Kenny (15 points) free throws. On the next possession, Kenny scored again to give the hosts a lead they'd never let go of.

Joliet extended the lead to 41-33 after a Kiwane Crowder 3-pointer, but Harper's Marcus Dover (Schaumburg, Ill. /Conant) (10 points) buried a three of his own late in the half to make it just a five-point game at 41-36.

The Hawks hung around for much of the second half. Marcus Gatlin (Chicago, Ill./Curie)'s pair of free throws kept the Joliet lead at just five, 50-45. Wolves top scorer Daymeann Stewart knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Wolves their first double digit lead, 62-51. Gatlin's 3-pointer got the Hawks back to just a seven-point deficit at 63-56, but Stewart answered right back with a triple of his own to push the lead back to 10. That 3-pointer triggered a 17-8 Joliet run to stretch the lead out to 80-64.

Harper would not quit, as they went on a 13-4 run fueled by three Allias Burnett (Joliet, Ill. /Joliet West) 3s to trim the Wolves' lead to 84-77. The home team knocked down 3-of-4 free throws in the closing seconds.

Burnett had a career-high 32 points on 11-of-22 shooting for the Hawks. He also had five rebounds and five assists. Gatlin posted a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Mushtaq finished with 14 points and five rebounds. Harper shot 39.6 percent (26-of-66) from the field and a perfect 14-of-14 from the free throw line.

Robert Brooks led Joliet scorers with 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Stewart added 17 points. Joliet shot 51.9 percent (28-of-54) from the floor and 74.1 percent (20-of-27) from the foul line. Both teams hit 11 3-pointers.

With the win, the Wolves advance to the Region IV Semifinals to take on No. 2 seed and nationally-ranked Milwaukee Area Technical College (23-6). The two teams will play at Milwaukee on Friday at 8 PM in the Region IV Semifinals. In other playoff action on Wednesday, No. 4 seed College of DuPage (18-11) No. 5 seed Madison College (10-19), 64-62. The Chaparrals will play the top team in the country, No. 1 seed Rock Valley College (27-3), on Friday in the Region IV Semifinals at 6 PM at tournament host Milwaukee. The Region IV Championship will be played on Sunday, Feb. 28 at 3 PM. For full Region IV Tournament coverage, click here.