Harper comeback bid falls short

An unseasonably warm night proved quite comfortable for Moraine Valley’s men’s basketball team inside the Sports and Wellness Center in Palatine on Tuesday.

Host Harper College suffered an 81-70 loss and fell to 2-1 at home this season.

“We didn’t get stops in the second half like we did in the first half,” said Hawks coach Tony Amarino.

Modestas Masiulinis (Lemont) was the story in the first half, scoring 7 of his 16 points.

A problem area last year for Harper was free throws, and that was the case again on Tuesday as the Hawks made 8 of 14.

“It’s a matter of getting to (the free throw line) and wanting to get fouled,” Amarino said.

The Cyclones (3-2) took a 38-30 at halftime, and early in the second half the perimeter play of Lance Barlow, Mike Shick and Steven White helped MV maintain a lead.

“I knew we were going to come back,” Amarino said — and he was right.

The Hawks went on a 7-2 run with 10:10 remaining to cut the lead to 55-48.

Then things got strange, as Elmhurst College transfer Mike Jackson committed his fifth foul with 6:18 left.

And with the Cyclones leading 60-58, Harper sophomore Garett Gatz (Conant) got fouled. The 5-foot-11 guard came down awkwardly on his ankle and did not return.

In a strange twist in the NJCAA rule book, Cyclones coach Dedrick Shannon was able to pick a player off of the Harper bench to enter the game and shoot the two-shot foul. Shannon chose freshman Bryant Adams, who had yet to play. He calmly knocked down both attempts.

“I just have to step up to the plate,” Adams said of the sequence.

“He’s a tough kid,” Amarino said of the recent De LaSalle graduate. “He’s a Catholic Leaguer — Catholic Leaguers step up.”

The Adams free throws came during a stretch of the game where the Hawks made 6 straight.

Richaun Holmes, Shick and White took control down the stretch to seal the outcome in favor of the Cyclones.

“The last four or five minutes they got in the paint and did whatever they wanted,” Amarino said.