Bailey Ayres
Sports Editor

A winning season for the Madison College men’s basketball team came to a close on Feb. 24 with a 76-59 loss to Rock Valley College in the NJCAA Region IV semifinals.

Rock Valley went on a 13-3 run to take command early in the first half and never looked back, holding a double-digit lead the rest of the game.

All season long, the 3-point shot has been a weapon for the WolfPack, but not in the game against Rock Valley.

Madison College converted on just 3 of 17 attempts from behind the 3-point line for just 17 percent, well below its season average of 34 percent.

Rock Valley had no such trouble, hitting 8 of 19 shots it took from 3-point range. The Golden Eagles also held a big advantage at the free-throw line, converting on 16 foul shots compared to eight for the WolfPack.

Tyree Young led Madison College with 19 points in the game. After averaging 17.6 points a game, he ended the season with a team high 511 points and a grand total of 900 points in his career.

Alex Easterday was the only other player to hit double figures for Madison College, scoring 11 points. Nathaniel Buss added nine points for the WolfPack, while Marcus Riser scored eight.

Third lowest point total

The 59 points Madison College scored was its third lowest point total of the season. Madison College was held below 60 points in back-to-back games in early January.

Madison College first lost to Triton College, 74-58, on Jan. 3, and then fell to Joliet Junior College, 85-56, on Jan. 6.

Overall, Madison College has been a high-scoring team this season, netting more than 100 points on three occasions. The team averaged 80.3 points a game for the season, while holding its opponents to 74.7 points a game.

More than 200 points

In addition to Young, Madison College had four other players score more than 200 points this season: Easterday (312), Jezzriah Burton (278), Sean Suchomel (272) and Buss (244). Young and Burton both completed their playing careers at Madison College, while Easterday, Buss and Suchomel were all freshmen this season.

Tournament opener

Madison College opened the tournament on Feb. 21 with an 82-73 victory over the College of DuPage. The WolfPack took a 10-point halftime lead and held on despite a rally that saw DuPage pull within 4 points with 5:32 left to play.

Suchomel scored 23 points to lead Madison College, while Young scored 21, Burton added 16 and Buss had 13.

The team sank 9 of 19 shots from behind the 3-point line (47 percent) and 28 of 51 total shots (55 percent) in the game.