Box Score PALATINE, IL-  The Harper College men's basketball team continued conference play against the MATC Stormers on Thursday in Milwaukee.  After being down by 8 at halftime, the Hawks mounted a late comeback but it was not enough as they fell 84-78.

Harper got off to a little bit of a slow start as they trailed early, but they were able to bounce back thanks to the combination of good defense and strong finishes on the other end.  The quick start for MATC was enough to keep the Hawks' runs from putting too much of a dent in the lead and the score at half was 46-38.

This season, the Hawks tend to be a stronger second half team and this game proved to be no different.  Harper was able to keep MATC from expanding their lead and brought the deficit to 4 with under 7 minutes remaining.  A questionable foul call left the Harper bench irate, resulting in a technical foul and MATC hit the ensuing free throws.  Harper was unable to overcome the 6 point deficit the rest of the way and ultimately lost 84-78.  Both teams shot similar from the field but the difference was made at the free throw line as the Hawks missed 6 of their 25 attempts.

The loss brought the Hawks to 3-19 overall and 1-7 in the N4C.  The trio of Jesse Young, Joe Gatziolis, and Corin Daniel accounted for 64 of the Hawks' 78 points, and Young led all scorers with 29.  Young also added 9 rebounds while Gatziolis added 5 assists and three steals.

Next up, the Hawks will travel to Wilbur Wright to begin the second half of conference play.  Harper will look to shake off their first meeting where they lost 104-61 and Wright shot 64% from the field, including 58% from three.  Tip off is set for 3pm.