Illinois College finishes fast at Harper

It was a tale of two halves Tuesday night at the Harper College Sports and Wellness Center as the Hawks men’s basketball dropped a 93-78 decision to visiting Illinois Central College in nonconference play.

After the Cougars (3-1) started fast, scoring the game’s first 10 points, the Hawks (0-3) quickly countered and were able to take the lead by the half.

“I thought we did a good job of moving the ball,” said leading scorer Kevin Walsh (St. Viator), who finished with a game-high 21 points.

Specifically, said ICC coach Tony Wysinger, “they were able to reverse the ball.”

Harper used a 10-4 run to catapult itself to a 42-41 lead.

But Illinois Central went to a more intensive defensive array in the second half, and it made a big difference.

“We run a defense that’s full court,” Wysinger said. “We didn’t do that in the first half.”

The Cougars also did a nice job of following their coach’s insistence that the first 5 minutes of the game and of the second half are of utmost importance.

With an 8-2 run early in the second half, Illinois Central took a 55-51 lead with 15 minutes left and stayed in control the rest of the way.

Harper was only able to corral 20 total rebounds in the game.

The Hawks will try again for win No. 1 on Thursday as Moraine Valley visits for a 7 p.m. tipoff.