Hawks' Streak Ends at Highland Tournament

The Hawks faced tough competition at the Highland Tournament over the weekend. (Jim Cummins)

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3

FREEPORT, Ill. – The Harper College men's basketball team saw their eight-game winning streak come to an end over the weekend at the Highland Community College 46^th Annual William R. Bear Men's Basketball Tournament. The Hawks (8-6) suffered a Friday defeat to Highland and Saturday defeats to Midwest Elite Prep Academy and Black Hawk College-East.

Harper vs. Highland Community College

The hosts had four players score in double-figures, led by Grant Prusator (17 points), and defeated Harper 87-70. The Hawks trailed 47-30 at halftime.

Kevin Sexton (/Prospect) led Harper with a game-high 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. Bradley Reibel (/Prospect) added 11 points.

Harper vs. Midwest Elite Prep Academy

The Hawks trailed throughout much of the first half and were down 39-30 at the break.

Midwest Elite built a 61-43 lead with 11:34 left in the game, but the Hawks slowly crept back into the game. Reibel's pair of free throws with 3:52 to play cut the deficit to single digits at 69-61.

The Hawks got to within three points at 71-68 on a Reibel basket from Sexton with 2:25 remaining. Harper's Kevin Walsh (/St. Viator) (16 points) hit a pair of free throws to make it 73-71 with 1:12 left.

Midwest Elite missed their next three free throw attempts, giving the Hawks a chance to tie it. Walsh's 3-pointer and shot attempts by Sexton and Eric Porter (Arlington Heights, Ill./Lake Zurich) came up short. Midwest Elite's David Skara hit a pair of free throws with 7.2 seconds left to make it 75-71.

Sexton scored on a layup with less than two seconds left. After Midwest Elite missed their second free throw, Walsh's three-quarter court shot hit the front of the rim, nearly going in and sending the game to overtime.

Reibel led the Hawks with 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting while Charles Wright (Cheyenne, Wyo./Cheyenne East) provided a boost off the bench with 10 points.

Harper vs. Black Hawk College-East

The Hawks struggled from the field in the game, shooting only 36.2 percent (25-of-69).

Walsh led all scorers with 27 points on 11-of-21 shooting. Wright scored 15 points, grabbed six rebounds and had six steals off the bench in 26 minutes of action.

Torrance Evans led Black Hawk with 24 points.

Up Next

The Hawks are off for an extended period of time before returning to action on Jan. 8, 2014 for their N4C opener at nationally-ranked Joliet.