MADISON, WISC. - The Madison College men's basketball team saw its goal of winning Region 4 Tournament championships came to a crashing halt Thursday with an 85-67 loss to Carl Sandburg College in a quarterfinal matchup inside Region 4 Division II Tournament. The #10-seeded Chargers drained 13 three-pointers, including nine in the first half, to beat the #7-seeded WolfPack in a rematch of last year's quarterfinals. Sandburg leads the all-time series by a 7-5 count and snapping the Pack's five-game win streak in head-to-head meetings that included two wins this season, the latest being just five day's prior in the regular season finale. Madison College ends the season with a 20-7 record.

Carl Sandburg College opened the game on fire with two 3-pointers by Keauntrey Barnes in the opening 80 seconds and it was a sign of things to come. The WolfPack hung tough and tied the score at 11-11 when George Whaley IV sank one of his two triples on the night exactly six minutes into the half. Barnes responded with four consecutive three-pointers to push the differential to 23-11 with 10:30 left to play. Sandburg slowly continued to extend their advantage to as much as 37-17; however, a quick 8-0 burst with back-to-back long range hits from Jackson Bertagnoli and Braylen Blue closed the gap to 12. Madison College scored the final five points of the half with a layup from Carter Sullivan and a three-pointer by Carson McCormick to go into halftime down 43-31.

The second half started with six consecutive CSC points before the WolfPack scored their first bucket, a Bertagnoli layup, nearly four minutes into the half. It sparked a 12-4 stretch that was capped by an Antoine Coleman hook shot to make it a 53-43 game. However, as they did all night, the Chargers answered with a three-pointer from Barnes, who sank his eighth and final one for a 64-44 differential with 9:30 remaining. From that point on, Madison only got as close as 15 points and trailed by as much as 21 on their way to the season-ending defeat.

Freshman Carter Sullivan led the Pack with 12 points, all of which came in the opening 20 minutes. He was 6 of 9 overall with four rebounds and an assist. The Stoughton, Wisconsin, native, finishes the season averaging 9.5 points and a team-high 6.5 rebounds.

Whaley, a second year guard from Williamsport, Pennsylvania, dropped in 11 points, to go along with three rebounds, two assists, and a steal. His 17th double-digit scoring game of the season closes out a 12.7 points per game average, while also posting 4.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists.

Cam Williams came off the bench to score ten points as the freshman from Verona, Wisconsin, was 3 for 7 overall and a perfect 4 for 4 at the free throw line. Bertagnoli and Blue tied for the team lead in rebounds with five, and Bertagnoli also dished out a career-high five assists.

Madison College shot 24 of 53 (45%) overall, 7 of 18 (39%) from beyond the arc, and 12 of 15 (80%) at the stripe. The WolfPack won the battle on the glass with six more rebounds, but committed five more turnovers. The home team held a 25-14 edge in bench scoring, but trailed points off turnovers 22-10 and points in the paint 38-30. The Chargers finished 57% (32-56) from the field and were 13 of 23 (56%) from distance.

Carl Sandburg College (22-9) advances to the semifinal round of the Region 4 Division II District B Tournament and will play #2-seeded Rock Valley College (24-7) on Sunday, March 1 at 4:00 p.m. in Rockford, Illinois. The winner moves on to the championship game on March 7.



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