Drew Gaston supplied COD's final six points and the Chaps held off visiting Prairie State 60-58 in Region 4 men's basketball Thursday night.
 
COD takes a 7-7 overall record into the break before resuming Jan. 5 at home against Indiana Northwest JV.
 
Coach Joe Kuhn's team led by as many as 12 in the opening three minutes of play, but trailed 23-22 at the break. Both teams shot poorly in the opening half, with COD hitting 9 of 23 (27.3 percent) and Prairie State at 25 percent (8 of 32).
 
"We talked at halftime about finding a way to win when you're not playing your best,'' he said. "We couldn't hit from outside (2 of 19 3s), but we defended well and rebounded hard.''
 
In the second half, it was a largely a two-possession game and COD fought back late. Trailing 58-54, Gaston hit a 3-pointer with 1:20 left to pull the Chaps within a point.
 
COD took a timeout with 38 seconds left and 13 seconds on the shot clock. After attempting to inbound the ball, COD called another time out.
 
"We wanted a set play to go to the rim, but credit Prairie State,'' Kuhn said. "They took the cuts away. On the second timeout, we wanted to get the ball to Drew.''
 
Gaston gathered in the ball off the inbounds, and penetrated to the basket before he was fouled. He hit the first free throw that tied the game at 58 before Prairie State was awarded a timeout after Gaston received the ball for his second attempt.
 
When play resumed, Gaston gave the Chaps a 59-58 lead with 34 seconds left.
 
Prairie State turned the ball over on a player-control foul, and Gaston took the ball and was fouled with 14.9 seconds to go. He hit the front end, missed the second and the Pioneers had a chance for the win. Their attempt near the buzzer was off.
 
Matt Elliott led COD with 17 points and 10 rebounds with four blocks. Gaston scored 16 with eight rebounds, and Gerald Tate 15 points on 7 of 10 shooting.
 
"An ugly game, but we fought hard,'' Kuhn said. "We defended better and we know how to grind out a win. That's encouraging.''