Box Score PALATINE, IL-  The Harper College men's basketball team got their chance at revenge against the College of DuPage Chaparrals on Saturday.  Despite being down by 4 points at halftime, the Hawks were able to battle back and finish off a 66-58 comeback victory.

Joe Gatziolis was able to get the scoring started with a strong left handed layup and, after a COD three, Sean Richardson hit a three of his own to put the Hawks up early 5-3.  The Chaparrals would put up a 9-0 run over the next 4 minutes but a Christian Rettig baseline finish brought the deficit down to 2 with 12 minutes remaining in the first half.  Those two points would be as close as the Hawks would get for the remainder of the half but they also never let the COD lead swell above 7.  At half, the Hawks trailed 32-28 after another Rettig layup.

The second half got off to a slow start for both teams as they combined for only 5 baskets in the first 7 minutes.  At the 13:11 mark, the Hawks were in their biggest hole of the game down by 10.  Harper would then go on a 7-0 run in the next 4 minutes thanks to layups from Kyle Nwogu and Corin Daniel.  COD would once again go on a run of their own and brought the score to 52-43 in their favor with 7:03 remaining.  However, the Hawks newfound balanced attack allowed them to put up 10 points in the next minute aand a half and go ahead by 1 with 5:37 to go.  During that short span, the Hawks put up 4 baskets and got 3 assists from 3 different players.  After COD went back by 1, a Daniel three pointer gave the Hawks a lead that they would not relinquish the rest of the way.  Daniel would score the last 4 points for the Hawks while adding in a big block and steal on the defensive end.  His two free throws with 20 seconds remaining clinched the 66-58 victory.

In what was arguably the Hawks' best all-around game of the season, the team shot an even 50% from the floor and 82% from the free throw line.  Harper also played lockdown defense, forcing 11 steals and 2 blocks.  As a team, the Hawks committed as many turnovers as they had assists (14).  Sophomore guard Joe Gatziolis led all scorers with 24 points while going 11-17 from the field.  Corin Daniel added 19 points, including 7 from the free throw line while Christian Rettig added 10 from the bench in 23 minutes.  Freshman guard Jesse Young had an effective game on both sides of the ball as he totaled 8 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals.

With the win, the Hawks move to 2-8 in conference and 4-21 overall.  On Thursday, the Hawks will host Triton College at Robert Morris at 7pm.  In their January 13 meeting, the Hawks held tough but lost 90-68 against the N4C's first place team.