MADISON, WISC. - The home regular season finale Wednesday brought plenty of celebration and drama as the Madison College men's basketball team fell 74-72 to North Central Community College Conference foe Wilbur Wright College following Sophomore Night festivities inside H. Douglas Redsten Gymnasium. The second year trio of Earl Lewis, Davion Washington, and Shamar Newman - along with manager Kelley Woock - were recognized prior to tip off (see ceremony video above), and Lewis and Washington went on to score 43 of the teams points. The loss ends a three-game win streak in conference play, and also snaps four-game streak of consecutive wins over the Rams. Madison College still owns a 17-5 lead in the all-time series after splitting their regular season meetings for the fifth time in 11 seasons as league opponents.

The game's first six minutes saw seven lead changes and one tie, with the latter coming at 16-16 and was followed by a Lewis three-pointer ten seconds later. The WolfPack held the lead more than five minutes before an 8-2 run by Wilbur Wright College (8-17, 4-7) put the visitors out in front. The Rams led by five at the half, but the home team pulled even within two minutes of the second half. Facing a four-point deficit a few minutes later, the 'Pack put together an impressive 11-0 surge to assume a 55-48 advantage. As the clock moved inside of eight minutes, WWC used three free throws to ignite a 14-2 burst that put them on top 69-61 with three minutes to play. Back-to-back three-pointers by Washington and freshman Amire Williams-Stribling created a one-point game inside of 90 second remaining. The rest of the game would be decided at the free throw line, with the Rams making 3 of 6 tries and the WolfPack converting 2 of 5 tries. In the final ten seconds, Wilbur Wright College used one free throw to go up by two, and Madison College was unable to get any closer as Washington missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and Newman came up empty on two in the final second, the last of which was missed on purpose to create a potential put-back on an offensive rebound that they were unable to corral.

Lewis drained a five long-range shots en route to a career-high 23 points, to go along with six rebounds, three steals, two assists, and two blocks. The former Madison East High School athlete was 8 of 18 overall and 5 for 13 beyond the arc, as well as 2 for 3 at the charity stripe for his third game of 20 or more points this season.



Washington, a Madison native and former high school teammate of Lewis', tallied his second game with 20 points in the last three outings as he made 7 of 13 field goal tries and was 4 of 8 from distance. The 6'2" guard added a pair of free throws, five rebounds, two steals, two blocks, and a team-leading nine assists to just miss his third double-double of the season.

Freshman forward Jason Williams was the only other WolfPack player to reach double-figures with 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Newman finished with five points, six rebounds, and three assists in his final regular season home game.

Madison College shot 43% (27-62) overall and made 11 of 32 (34%) from three-point territory, but struggled to a 7 for 18 (39%) mark at the free throw line. The Rams secured 14 more rebounds than the 'Pack, including 18 offensive boards that they converted into a 13-6 edge in second chance scoring. Wilbur Wright College also owned a 17-8 advantage in points off turnovers despite both teams committing 15.

Up Next:

Madison College (12-12, 5-6) will finish the regular season with three straight N4C road games, the first of which is Saturday, February 8 at the College of DuPage (6-19, 4-7). The Chaparrals escaped Madison with an 80-79 win on January 15 to end an eight-game win streak for the WolfPack in the head-to-head series, which still favors Madison College by a 15-11 count. Game time is at 3:00 p.m. in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.

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