Box Score

Palatine, Ill- The Harper College men's basketball team could not overcome cold shooting on Wednesday night falling to Wilbur Wright College 84-77.

The Hawks (5-12, 0-1 N4C) shot just 38 percent from the field and an abysmal 21 percent from behind the arc. Despite the shooting woes, Harper played solid defense forcing the Rams (1-13, 1-0 N4C) to shoot 43 percent from the field and just 18 percent from the arc. A large free throw discrepancy made the difference in the game as Harper actually shot a better percentage (76 percent), but made 13 less free throws than the Rams.

Wright took a six point lead into halftime and never gave it back. They featured a methodical approach in the second half---often taking much of the thirty seconds on the shot clock.

The Hawks cut the deficit to just one bucket with a little under three minutes left in the contest on a Joey Gatziolis bucket, but again Wright answered the bell with two made free throws and a layup shortly after.

Gatziolis had a strong showing for the Hawks scoring 18 points (8-10 FG's) and pulling down six rebounds. In scoring, the Hawks were led by Isaiah Butler (/Elgin) with 36 points (10-27 FG's, 6-18 3PT's).

The Hawks will look to bounce back on Jan. 7 when they head to Rockford to take on Rock Valley College. The Golden Eagles (12-4) took both conference matchups last year and are the defending national champions. The game is set to tip at 3PM.