COD battles past Harper, 69-59

Harper College finally slowed down College of DuPage star Tim Niles.

And COD was having a tough time slowing the Hawks' inside duo of 6-foot-6 Fred Taylor and 6-9 Andy Merklein.

Those positives seemed to add up to Harper avenging 2 N4C losses Thursday night in the NJCAA Region IV Division III men's basketball semifinals in Palatine.

Negative.

Second-seed COD (17-13) got 19 points from John Shodipo and 16 from Robert Odumuyiwa to pull away in the last five minutes to a 69-59 victory.

"It's never easy," Odumuyiwa said of beating third-seed Harper (20-10). "We've always had a hard time playing them. I guess we just had their number this year."

And even though Niles, a Maine West product scored only 9 of his 17-point average on 2-for-6 shooting, COD gets a shot at its second straight Region IV title.

"He's the one who beat us two times," first-year Harper coach Tony Amarino said. "Other kids stepped up. You've got to give them credit."

The Chaparrals will face top-seed Joliet (21-9) at 7 p.m. Saturday in Palatine with a berth in the March 13-15 national tournament in Delhi, N.Y. at stake.

Odumuyiwa, who averages 7 points a game, was 7-for-14 from the field and had 13 rebounds. Shodipo had 9 rebounds, and Otis Scarver and reserve Jon Gillett had 9 points apiece for COD.

"To get through a game where Tim didn't play his best says a lot for the other players to come through like they did," said COD coach Don Klaas. "Shodipo and Robert made some nice plays."

Taylor (25 points, 11 rebounds) and Merklein (18 points, 7 rebounds) combined for 31 second-half points. Taylor's steal and dunk and 3-point play off a rebound got Harper within 51-50 with 5:43 left.

"I thought we did an excellent job inside," Amarino said.

But the Hawks were ice cold outside at 2-for-16 on 3-pointers. They had a chance to go ahead but missed a 1-and-1 and Odumuyiwa found Shodipo for a 3 with 4:54 left.

That started an 11-point run that put COD ahead 62-50 with 1:46 to play.

"I felt it was there for us," Amarino said. "We had the momentum and made a couple of silly mistakes."

And COD, which split its N4C games with Joliet, found a way to beat Harper again.

"We knew if we withstood their run, we'd have a chance to win the game," Odumuyiwa said.