MILWAUKEE, Wis. – A simple halftime adjustment from Milwaukee Technical College men's basketball coach Randy Casey was all the Stormers needed to turn a double-digit deficit late in the first half into a 73-63 home victory over Prairie State Saturday.

Trailing 31-19 with 6:10 remaining in the first half, Casey opted to substitute all five of his players in favor of freshmen Julian Valentine, Ky'Moni Hunt, Menzy Carden, and sophomores Owen Smith and Antonio Foxwell. The sudden change in personnel helped MATC close the first half on a 15-3 run that afforded the Stormers to enter halftime all knotted up at 34 points apiece.

"It was huge," Casey said of his team's 15-3 run to close the first half. "We made that substitute where we subbed all five [players] and those guys that came in brought us back. That's why those guys started the second half because they deserved to be on the floor."

Casey's decision to start the same group that ended the first half to begin the second half proved to be a good one. MATC immediately opened the second half by going on a 14-3 run that swung all the momentum into the Stormers' favor. Leading 48-37 around the 15-minute mark, MATC leaned on its strong defense, which held Prairie State to 32.4 percent shooting throughout the entire second half, in order to cruise to a 10-point win.

"The second half we played really well," Casey said. "That last group that finished the first half decided to share the ball like they should and make the easy pass to wide open people instead of driving into double teams. They brought us back and played defense well."

In addition to outscoring Prairie State 34-17 in bench points, the Stormers also dominated both on the glass and as a team defensively. They held the Pioneers to 32.9 percent shooting from the field as a team, while also out-rebounding them 59-36.

"Our defense was good, especially in the second half," Casey said. "We were listening and switching up from man to zone and they did a pretty good job with that. Again it wasn't perfect, but tonight they did well."

STAT BOOK
Foxwell recorded a double-double with 11 points, 19 rebounds, one assist and one steal to help lead the Stormers' offense. Hunt added 14 points, including three made 3-pointers to go along with six rebounds and four assists. Noah Daniels finished perfect from deep, going 3-for-3 on 3-pointers. He also contributed five rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Valentine pitched in nine points, seven assists and six rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench.

UP NEXT
MATC (2-8) will travel to McHenry County College at 7:15 p.m. on Dec. 3.