Rock Valley's aim is true in victory at Harper

In college basketball, a high shooting percentage over the full 40 minutes is a good recipe for success.

It sure worked on Wednesday for the nation's top-ranked NJCAA Division III team, Rock Valley College (17-0).

The Golden Eagles won their North Central Community College Conference opener 97-78 against host Harper College.

"That was the number one team. We just have to learn from it," said Harper captain Marcus Gatlin.

"The opponent was really good, and we fought really hard, " said Harper coach Dr. Justin Welke.

Rock Valley shot 56.9 percent, scoring almost evenly in each half.

"We gave up 97 points," Gatlin said. "We have to get better on the defensive end."

The outcome was good even by the standards of Rock Valley, which came up with its third-best shooting percentage of the season.

"We were able to control the game and get the shots we wanted," said Rock Valley coach Craig Doty.

Despite the Golden Eagles' consistently good shooting, the Hawks (9-8, 0-1) only trailed 49-35 at the break.

Doty was quick to praise the efforts of Gatlin and Allias Burnett, who led the Hawks with 24 points apiece.

"(Harper has) some of the best guards in our league," Doty said.

"Marcus Gatlin, Allias - they have a lot of heart," Welke said.

But Rock Valley had a clear edge in the paint.

"We were able to exploit them inside because of our size," said Doty, whose team had a 37-25 rebounding edge.

Dalton Menke paced Rock Valley in scoring with 19 points, while 6-foot-7 center Elijah Williams had 17 points and 6-6 guard Dalton Payton had 16.

Things don't get any less difficult for Harper, which hosts the No. 20 team in the NJCAA Division II poll, Triton College, at 3 p.m Saturday.

"Saturday is going to be really similar to tonight," said Welke of Triton's talent level.