MADISON, WISC. - Madison College ratcheted up the defense pressure Thursday night as they steamrolled the Clarke University JV by a 105-55 final in a men's basketball game inside H. Douglas Redsten Gymnasium. The WolfPack, who moved up to #19 in the latest NJCAA Division II Poll, continued their undefeated start to the season thanks to full court pressure that helped generate 22 steals - sophomore George Whaley IV tied a team record with seven - and force 29 turnovers by the Pride. Sophomore Ryen Jones led all scorers with a career-high 23 points, including several thunderous dunks, as the Pack won the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

Madison College answered the first bucket of the game by Clarke University JV (4-4) with an 8-0 run and never looked back. Jones opened his big night with a jump shot to put the WolfPack ahead 16-5 just over five minutes into the contest. The Pride did not hide early, and clawed back to within a 22-19 differential with 9:37 to play in the half. A Jackson Bertagnoli basket started a 10-0 surge as the home team closed the half with a 43-24 advantage. 

The defensive intensity and full court pressure went up a notch after halftime for Madison College, resulting in a 13-3 start to the half. The turnovers leading to buckets kept coming as the WolfPack put together scoring runs of six, eight, nine, and seven points as they blitzed the Pride by a 62-31 margin in the final 20 minutes. 



Jones, a native of Atlanta, Georgia, came off the bench and dropped in 23 points on 11 of 17 shooting with one free throw. During one four-minute stretch of the second half, the 6'5" forward scored 11 of the WolfPack's 13 points, and then followed it up with an assist on a three-pointer by Braylen Blue. He scored 15 of his points in the second half, and added two rebounds, two assists, and a steal.

Blue finished with 15 points, three rebounds, two assists, and two steals. The second year guard from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, drained three 3-pointers as part of a 6 for 9 effort overall. 

Freshmen Carter Sullivan and Cam Williams each tallied 13 points. Sullivan, a native of Stoughton, Wisconsin, was 6 for 7 on the night with a hit from three-point range, to go along with a team-leading six rebounds. Williams, a former Verona Area HS athlete, was 5 for 7 with a triple and two free throws, and also amassed four boards, two assists, and two steals.

Whaley rounded out the double-digit scorers for the WolfPack as the second year point guard had ten points and five rebounds. He led the team with five assists and a career-high seven steals that matched the previous program record set by Sean Suchomel in the 2018-19 season. 

Madison College owned the Pride in several categories, including a 42-7 lead in points off turnovers, a 66-26 advantage in points in the paint, and a 61-18 differential in bench scoring. For the game, the WolfPack shot 52% (44-84) for their sixth game this season shooting 50% or better. They also finished 6 of 21 (28%) from distance and 11 of 12 (91%) at the free throw line.



Up Next:

Madison College (9-0) will take their nine-game winning streak to Iowa Falls, Iowa, on Saturday, November 6 for a Top-20 showdown with #1-ranked Ellsworth Community College (11-0). The Panthers beat the WolfPack by seven in Madison last season and own a 2-0 edge in the all-time series. Tip off is set for 3:00 p.m. and the game will be live streamed on the ICCAC Sports Network.

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