College of DuPage shoots past Harper

Wednesday was rivalry night at the Harper College gymnasium in Palatine, where College of DuPage was able to grab men's basketball bragging rights with a 76-70 victory in North Central Community College Conference play.

Though the Chaparrals improved to 16-10 overall and 6-5 in the league, coach Earl Reed wasn't exactly thrilled.

"I can't say I am very pleased with the way we played," he said. "We are very fortunate to come out with a win."

After DuPage trailed for most of the first half Christian Mathis converted a layup to tie the game at 26-26.

"We came out low-energy," said Leyden alum Johnny Woolf, who plays for DuPage.

After Mathis (13 points) added a free throw; a 3 from Harper's Admir Suljic cut the DuPage lead to 32-31 at half.

After shooting only 38.7 percent in the first half, the Chaps found their touch in the second half, shooting 55.2 percent over the final 20 minutes.

Woolf (20 points) and Josh Fredricks (16 points) led the way. Fredricks finished 5-for-8 from beyond the arc.

"We have some kids who can shoot it," Reed said.

"The last couple of games, we have shot the ball well," Woolf said. "Our shooting saved us tonight."

Trailing 39-38 with 16:40 left, the visitors use the next 2:50 to regain control with a 9-3 run.

"We were not playing defense," said Suljic, who finished with a game-high 24 points for Harper (9-18, 2-9). "You can't slip up for two three minutes."

Harper's Davion Benton collected 20 points and 16 rebounds.

Harper coach Justin Welke was disappointed with the loss but also saw some gains.

"For 40 minutes we really battled," he said. "We are making progress."