Harper falls short against Morton

Shooting 51.6 percent from the field over 40 minutes of junior college basketball is usually a good recipe for winning, and it was enough for a satisfying victory for visiting Morton College on Tuesday at Harper College as the Panthers salted away an 85-72 victory.

Morton had three players scored more than 20 points - Greg Carter (23), Aaron Skinner (21) and Nick Dixon 25.

"We didn't play defense," said Harper coach Justin Welke. "You can't win games like that."

Morton coach Conte Stamas said he was pleased with the agressiveness of his three leading scorers. Skinner was a factor on the boards as well, snatching a game-high 15 rebounds.

Only Isaiah Parks approached double figures in rebouding for Harper (2-5), finishing with 8 as Morton (3-4) out-rebounded the Hawks 37-21.

Withought the services of Davion Benton due to injury, freshman Robert Hudson (Conant) was once again the offensive catalyst for the Hawks. He finished with a team-high 19 points.

"He continues to carry us," Welke said. "He's just a fantastic player."

Admir Suljic and Isiah Parks each had 12 points for the Hawks.

Harper hosts Truman College in a 7 p.m. tipoff on Thursday, and Welke hopes for better preparedness from his team.

"Our guys were not ready effort-wise," he said.