(Sugar Grove, IL) – Waubonsee Community College's men's basketball team opened their 2022-23 season with a 97-74 victory over Madison (WI) College. The Chiefs (1-0) gradually pulled away in the second half to start this year's campaign off on the right track before a nearly full house on Alumni Day in Erickson Hall Gymnasium. Waubonsee, which returned three starters from last year's team that went 20-8 and reached the Region 4 Division II title game, had eight different players dent the scoring column in the win over the visiting Wolfpack. Coach Lance Robinson's crew also had five players reach double-figures and out rebounded Madison 42-24.
The Chiefs won the opening tip, but the Wolfpack (1-2) scored first a moment later as Tellin Porter made a fade away 18-foot jumper on Madison's first possession. Waubonsee got off to a slow start offensively and didn't get on the scoreboard until nearly three minutes into the contest. Brice Langford made the first of two free throws to make it 2-1 as both teams struggled to get on track. A three-pointer from the left wing by Langford five minutes into the game put Waubonsee ahead 9-7. A trey from the left corner by Colton Schutt three minutes later then extended the lead to 14-10. The Chiefs led by as many as six points before the Wolfpack clawed back to take the lead 19-18 with nine minutes to go in the half. An offensive rebound and put back basket by J. Caleb Slawinski, followed quickly by a breakaway lay-up by Joey Niesman then gave Waubonsee a 22-19 lead.
From there the Chiefs' Jaylyn Kelley started to heat up as he buried a pair of long three-pointer from the left wing to push the lead to 28-23. Madison fought its way back to within a point on two occasions over the next four minutes of play, but each time Kelley responded with a long three-pointer. A pair of free throws by Schutt with two minutes left in the half gave the Chiefs' a 40-33 lead, the biggest for either team up to that point. Slawinski then sliced through the Wolfpack defense and scored on a lay-in with just five seconds remaining to send Waubonsee to the locker room leading 42-37.
The teams traded baskets during the first few minutes of the second half. A block by the 6'10" Langford then led directly to a fast break lay-in by Niesman to put Waubonsee back up by seven points. A minute later the 6'8" Slawinski powered his way to an inside basket to make it 52-43. A steal and breakaway lay-up by Kelley six minutes into the second period staked the Chiefs to their first double-digit lead at 58-48 as they began to slowly pull away. A minute later Slawinski muscled up another shot inside and scored to push the Chiefs' advantage to 62-48. On Waubonsee's next possession they patiently worked the ball around until Schutt got open and nailed another triple to make it a 17-point lead for the home team.
At the midway point of the second half the Chiefs led by 19 points. Another trey from the far left corner by Kelley pushed the lead to 77-56 and Langford added to that a minute later with a pair of made free throws. The Wolfpack got the deficit under 20 points with five minutes left but that is as close as they would get. Fast break lay-ups by Niesman, Langford and a slick reverse lay-in by J.R. Mitchell helped increase the lead to 25 points at 92-67 with three minutes to go. After a Madison timeout Langford made another block, snagged the ball and made a great outlet pass ahead to Slawinski who threw down a two-handed breakaway slam to put an exclamation point on the victory.
Kelley led the Chiefs with 25 points, including connecting on five shots from long range to go along with eight rebounds and five assists. Niesman finished with 18 points, five boards and three steals, while Schutt chipped in with 17 points. Slawinski booked 14 points, snagged five rebounds and handed out three assists. Langford contributed 11 points, hauled down seven misfires, dished out six assists and blocked a pair of shots. David Robinson added nine points off the bench, nearly giving the Chiefs six double-digit scorers.
The Chiefs next three games are all on the road at the College of DuPage (Nov. 8), Illinois Valley (Nov. 10) and Rock Valley (Nov. 15). Waubonsee returns home to Erickson Hall on Thursday, November 17, when they host the North Central College Junior Varsity beginning at 7:00 p.m.