OGLESBY, ILL. - A close, low-scoring Region 4 men's basketball game at turned into a high-scoring race after halftime Saturday, and in the end, Illinois Valley Community College had too much fire-power and handed the WolfPack their first loss of the season with an 86-74 decision. The Eagles put up 54 points in the second half to out-score the Pack, despite four players scoring in double-figures. The setback comes in the first meeting all-time between the two programs.

After scoring the game's first four points, Madison College eventually built an 11-4 lead after a three-pointer by sophomore wing Deante Luster. That differential less than four minutes into the game marked the largest lead of the day for the visiting WolfPack, who found themselves trailing less than four minutes later following a 10-2 surge for IVCC. Even at 22-22 late in the first half, Luster and freshman Brian Gould each converted a layup to put the Pack up four, however, an 8-0 run gave the Eagles the lead for good. First year guard Romelle Bell hit a jumper in the last 15 second of the half to cut the deficit to 32-30 at the break.

Illinois Valley Community College (1-1) turned up the intensity and speed in the second half, scoring 12 consecutive points of of the locker room to take a 44-30 lead. Madison College fought back to get within 46-42 with a 12-2 push, but it was not enough and the Eagles strung the differential out to a game-high 22 with a 66-44 advantage with less than nine minutes remaining. Illinois Valley went on to score 54 points in the second half.

Luster, a former Sun Prairie HS athlete, led the WolfPack with a season-best 22 points on 10 of 18 shooting overall. For the second consecutive game, he was the only player to connect on a three-pointer, as the WolfPack were 1 for 13 and have started the season just 2 for 22 beyond the arc. The returning all-region registered his third career double-double with a season-high 11 rebounds, to go along with four assists and three steals.

Guard Tyler Mitchell, a native of Dallas, Texas, made it back-to-back games with double-digit points, dropping in a season-high 19 points after converting 7 of 12 from the field and 5 of 8 at the free throw line. He also added six rebounds.

Also in double-digits for points were Justin Pleasant and Bell, who went for 12 and ten, respectively. Pleasant also contributed seven rebounds.

Madison College shot nearly 54% (30-56) for the game and went 13 for 21 (62%) at the charity stripe. They outrebounded IVCC by a 39-28 margin, and finished with a 52-42 edge in points in the paint and a 22-17 margin in fast break points. The Eagles owned a 25-15 lead in points off turnovers after the Pack committed 22 turnovers, and were better by a 15-11 margin in second chance points.

Up Next:

Madison College (1-1) is off for ten days before concluding their season-opening three-game road swing on Tuesday, November 14 at the College of Lake County (1-1). The WolfPack have won the last two meetings in 2022 and 2021 against the Lancers, however, CLC owns a 6-2 lead all-time against their Region 4 counterpart. Tip off is set for 7:15 p.m. in Grayslake, Illinois, and can be streamed live here.

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