JOLIET, ILL. - Playing on the road for a second straight time to open North Central Community College play, and doing so against a second straight quality opponent, the Madison College men's basketball team dropped a lopsided 85-56 contest Saturday against Joliet Junior College. A close game through halftime saw the WolfPack get outscored by a 50-28 margin in the second half, in addition to sizable deficits in points in the paint and total rebounds. It added up to an 0-2 start in league games for the first time since the 2013-14 season.
The game's first 12 minutes featured three ties and six lead changes, the last of which saw Madison College take a 19-18 lead on a
Nathaniel Buss jumper with eight and a half minutes to play. Neither team would score for the next two minutes until a Wolves (13-4, 0-1) bucket handed the home team the lead for good. The basket also triggered a 15-2 run that put JJC ahead by a dozen points for its largest lead of the half before settling for a 35-28 deficit at the break.
In the second half, Joliet began to assert themselves in the paint and on the glass to put together a 22-4 run and grab a 25-point lead. During that stretch the WolfPack shot 2-for-14, while the Wolves scored 18 points from the interior and converted 9-of-18 field goal tries. The score differential never dropped below 20 points for the remainder of the game.
Two WolfPack players scored in double-figures, led by a career-high matching 18 points from freshman guard
Nathaniel Buss. The Verona, Wisconsin, native made 4-of-6 attempts from long range as part of a 7-for-10 effort overall.
Freshman
Marcus Riser, playing in his second game since joining the team during the semester break, put up a career-best 12 points off the bench. The native of Racine, Wisconsin, and UW-La Crosse transfer knocked went 4-for-14 from the floor and made 4-of-9 at the charity stripe. Riser also tied fellow first year
Alex Easterday for the team lead in rebounds with seven.
Sophomore
Tyree Young saw his streak of 11 consecutive games with double-digit points come to an end with six, also led the 'Pack with six assists.
Joliet Junior College controlled the interior with a 42-20 edge in point in the paint, to go along with 56-34 margin in the rebounding category. Shooting-wise, JJC also finished better with 35 makes on 80 attempts (43.8%), with the WolfPack ending 20-for-59 (33.9%).
It's the second straight win in the head-to-head series for Joliet, who now owns a 22-5 record all-time against the WolfPack.
Up Next:
Madison College (10-5, 0-2) will be back on the home for the first time in N4C competition on Wednesday, January 10 when in-state rival Milwaukee Area Technical College (9-8, 1-1) comes to
H. Douglas Redsten Gymnsium. The meeting will mark the 99th all-time between the long-time rivals separated by 90 miles. The WolfPack has won two straight and four of the last six games against the Stormers. The all-time count stands at 53-45 in favor of Madison College. TIp off is at 7:30 p.m.
The game will be streamed live at
MadisonCollege.TV, as well as via the Madison College Athletics
Facebook and
YouTube pages.
Wednesday's doubleheader against MATC-Milwaukee is also North East Side Youth Basketball (NESYB) Night, with youth players from Madison's north and east side communities in attendance. The teams will scrimmage during halftime of both the women's and men's games.
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