Harper cruises past Judson JV

The Harper College men’s basketball team played the second half of a rare back-to-back Wednesday night at the Sports and Wellness Center in Palatine, and the Hawks were able to complete a sweep of NAIA JV competition.

On Wednesday against the Judson University JV, Harper won 79-40. The previous night, against Olivet Nazarene, the Hawks (4-5) won 71-66.

Against Judson, the Hawks were keyed by an unlikely source: freshman reserve Charles Wright, who notched his first career double-double, with a career-high 18 points along with 11 rebounds.

“We took them out of the game in the first five, six minutes” said Hawks coach Tony Amarino.

Amarino belives this will not be the last time Wright has an impact on a Harper game.

“He’s going to help us. Chuckie can score,” Amarino said. “He’s a strong kid inside. ”

Wright had plenty of help from his friends Wednesday, as 10 of the 12 players who got in the game scored.

“It was night and day with our effort,” said first-year Judson coach Joel Cotton of his team’s sluggish start.

By halftime, Harper had a 47-11 lead.

Freshman Justin Hill (Schaumburg) took the blame for the Eagles’ rough first half.

“We came out sluggish,” he said. “That’s on me as the so-called leader.”

Hill was held scoreless in the first half before finishing with 11 points.

“(Harper) did a good job taking me out of my game” Hill said. “Nobody is going to shoot the lights out every night. A good shooter keeps shooting and stays confident.”

After playing a rough schedule early in the season, Amarino believes his team is slowly starting to show signs of improvement.

“We are getting better and better,” he said.