Three games into the young season, and the Madison College men’s basketball team has already shown it is ready to compete with some of the top teams in Division II.
So far this season, Madison College has beaten an opponent by 27 points and split two games against ranked opponents.
Madison College returns only one player from last year’s 9-18 team that qualified for the Region 4 Tournament in its first year as a Division II program.
JP Pleasant, a 6-foot, 5-inch foward started 23 games last season. He averaged 10.1 points a game and a team high 6.4 rebounds a game.
He is joined by 11 newcomers to the team, including two transfers from other NJCAA schools in the state.
Cullen Rauls, a guard from Fall River, averaged 18 points a game playing for Western Technical College last year. Amir Ford, a 6-7 forward from Lovejoy, Georgia, played in 33 games for Bryant & Stratton College last season.
Rauls led all scorers with 30 points in Madison College’s season-opening 96-69 win over McHenry County College.
Fellow guard Carson McCormick scored 27 points including seven three-pointers. McCormick, a freshman, was the sixth player in school history to make that many three-pointers or more in a single game.
Pleasant posted his fifth career double-double in the game with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Sixth-ranked Kirkwood Community College presented a tough test for the young Madison College team in its second game of the season, handing the WolfPack a 100-66 loss on Nov. 4.
Kirkwood had a 13-5 advantage in three-pointers and out-rebounded Madison College, 40-27, in the game.
Pleasant led the WolfPack with 15 points, while Rauls added 13. George Whaley IV was the only other Madison College player in double figures, scoring 11 points.
Pleasant and Rauls again led the way as Madison College upset 18th-ranked Waubonsee Community College, 80-64, on Nov. 7.
Pleasant tied his career-high with 20 points to go along with a team-leading nine rebounds. He hit 9 of 18 shots with a three-pointer and a free throw.
Rauls scored 19 points including three shots from behind the three-point line. He also had four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Freshman Ryen Jones scored 14 points, while Whaley added 11.
Madison College plays three of its next four games at home, including a Nov. 20 matchup against Black Hawk Technical College at 3 p.m.