WolfPack men’s basketball team finds its scoring touch

Alfred Davis / Clarion

Madison College men’s basketball player Marcus Riser defends a Triton College opponent during a recent game.

Bailey Ayres, Sports Editor

As the season draws to a close, the Madison College men’s basketball team has put together a three-game winning streak, including two wins that saw the team score more than 100 points.

With two games left on the regular season schedule, Madison College now stands at 16-9 overall and 6-6 in North Central Community College Conference play.

The team has two road games left on its schedule before tournament play begins. Madison College will play at College of DuPage on Feb. 14 and at Rock Valley College on Feb. 17.

Tournament play begins on Feb. 21. If the WolfPack advances past the quarterfinals of the NJCAA Region IV tournament, they’ll have the luxury of playing the rest of the regional tournament at home.

Everybody Scores Big

Almost everybody scored in double figures in Madison College’s 111-83 win over Harper College on Feb. 10. Six of the teams seven active players had 10 or more points in the game.

Jezzriah Burton led the way with 30 points, while Sean Suchomel added 21. Others scoring in double figures in the dominant victory were Nathaniel Buss (16), Tyree Young (14), Kye Burcham (11) and Marcus Riser (10).

Second Half Rally

Madison College scored 11 unanswered points late in the second half to complete a rally from a 14-point deficit and post an 82-79 victory against Wilbur Wright College on Feb. 7. The win avenged an earlier loss, when Wilbur Wright hit a half-court buzzer-beater for the victory.

This time, Young and Suchomel made sure there was no such heroics. Both scored 16 points in the game and hit big free throws late in the game. Young was a perfect 8 for 8 from the free throw line.

Century Mark

Fittingly, the 100th game between Madison College and Milwaukee Area Technical College saw one of the two teams surpass the century mark. Madison College netted a 104-94 win over the in-state rival on Feb. 3, giving the WolfPack a 55-45 lead in the all-time series.
Young led all scorers with 37 points, just one point short of his career high. He scored 21 points in the final 10 minutes of the game to help close out the win. Buss scored 25 points, a career high for the freshman.

Rattled Out

After rallying back twice in the game, Madison College fell to Joliet Junior College, 64-61, on Jan. 31 when an attempted game-tying 3-pointer rattled out at the buzzer. Buss led the team with 17 points while Burcham netted 14.