A furious second-half rally allowed College of DuPage to nearly overcome a 20-point deficit, but visiting Elgin held off the Chaps in an 88-76 victory in Region 4 men's play Tuesday night.
 
The Chaps (1-4 overall) remains at home this week with games against Carl Sandburg (Thursday) and Wilbur Wright (Saturday).
 
COD went into the break trailing 49-29 after the Spartans closed the final 90 seconds of the first half on an 8-0 run.
 
That run was the difference maker, Chaps coach Joe Kuhn said.
 
"We dug ourselves too big of a hole,'' he said. "We talked about how important it is to find and maintain a mental focus. It's bound to happen, it's college basketball.''
 
Kuhn's crew found their focus in the second half, outscoring Elgin 35-13 and taking the lead on Drew Gaston's field goal that gave COD a 64-62 lead with 6:51 left.
 
The lead was short lived, and yet the Chaps were right there on Matt Elliott's 3-pointer tied the game at 77 with 1:44 left.
 
The Spartans pulled away late and the only points scored from COD came on three free throws from Gaston that put the score 83-80 with 39 seconds to go.
 
"We showed signs of growth by climbing back into the game,'' Kuhn said. "We battled back hard. Right now, we're at the point of making some very strong progress.''
 
Gaston led the Chaps with 27 points, along with eight rebounds. Dane Boe added 11 points and Derome White 10.
 
Elliott led in rebounds with 11.
 
Elgin shot nearly 61 percent from the field in the first half and cooled off slightly, hitting 52 percent in the second half.