The College of DuPage men's basketball team wound up on the right side of a battle against the winless Wilbur Wright Rams on Thursday, Jan. 15 inside PEC Arena. A first-half scoring drought was negated by late defensive stops, clutch free throws and a final push to outlast WWC, 80-74.

Adyn McGinley and JJ Hernandez hit immediate three-pointers to lead an early charge which saw COD climb to a 31-14 lead in the first half. Wright was feisty down the stretch, closing the period on an 21-6 run to cut the Chaparrals' lead to just a bucket, 37-35 entering the break.

In the second half, Hernandez and Logan Glover each hit old-fashioned three-point plays before Ethan Howard took over for the remainder of the game. With just over six minutes to go, the Rams pushed to tie the game at 63 apiece. 

After WWC went up by a bucket, Howard hit two free throws before a timeout. With DuPage in late foul trouble, the teams traded baskets with two minutes remaining. Howard continued to get to the line, knocking down free throw after free throw, including all three after he was fouled on a shot from beyond the wing to tie the game at 74 all. His subsequent make from deep proved to be the dagger, as a final defensive stop and more free throws saw DuPage survive, 80-74.

"It's winning ugly, you know," said head coach Joe Kuhn. "[When it was 31 to 14], I think we thought it was gonna be easy. It's a lesson in that, you're never up enough, you're never out of it. And nobody's quitting. But, we got sloppy with shot selection and we're fortunate to pull that one out. They played a lot better than we did, but we're fortunate to win."

Howard ended the night with 31 points, including 11 from the stripe, while Glover's 18 and Hernandez's 10 were the only other Chaps in double-digits. 

COD (11-6) is back in action on Saturday against the Harper College Hawks inside PEC Arena, with tip-off scheduled for 3 p.m., or 20 miniutes after the conclusion of the women's contest.