MILWAUKEE, Wis. — The Milwaukee Area Technical College men's basketball team, ranked No. 10 in the latest NJCAA Division II poll, delivered a dominant performance in its home opener Thursday, rolling past Elgin 131-76 to improve to 5-1.

Freshman forward Jason Lawani led the Stormers with a double-double, posting a team-high 22 points and 14 rebounds. Seven MATC players finished in double figures as the Stormers extended their winning streak to five games.

"It was a great home opener," MATC head coach Randy Casey said. "We played well on the defensive end, despite a few lapses where we got lazy, but that's where we've been living on, is the defensive end and we are continuing to get better in that regard."

MATC set the tone early, with four of its five starters scoring in the first two minutes to spark a 10-0 run. Elgin's Davee Flowers hit several 3-pointers to cut the deficit to 20-16, but the Stormers answered with a 13-4 spurt keyed by three baskets from freshman guard Turon Rivers. The lead ballooned to 24 points late in the half after two free throws from sophomore guard Jordan Jones, and MATC entered the break ahead 56-32.

"We were able to come out fast, which is great," Casey said. "We were able to sustain it…defensively I think we did a great job. I think we had seven guys finish in double figures."

Elgin traded baskets with MATC to open the second half, but the Stormers pulled away midway through the period. Leading 77-51 with just under 12 minutes left, MATC ripped off a 12-1 run to go up by 37 before cruising the rest of the way with reserves seeing extended minutes.

Lawani, a Bolingbrook, Illinois, native, shot 8 of 10 from the field and 1 of 1 from beyond the arc in 22 minutes off the bench, recording his first double-double of the season and a career-best 14 rebounds. Rivers added 18 points on 8 of 12 shooting, along with eight rebounds, two assists and a steal as a reserve.

"It's really just my teammates and my coaches that instill confidence in me to be myself, demand the ball and play strong," Lawani said of what allowed him to be successful. "If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have had a breakout game like this."

Qi'Andre Washington, Raydelh Boutin and Jones each scored 12 points. Jones dished out a team-high five assists, while Boutin added four. Sophomore guard Jayden Hackett notched his third straight double-figure game with 19 points, six rebounds, three assists and a steal. Second-year guard Noah Daniels chipped in 10 points, hitting 2 of 4 from deep.

The Stormers shot 55.8 percent (53 of 95) from the field, topping their season average of 50.3 percent. They went 9 of 23 (39.1 percent) from 3-point range and 16 of 22 (72.7 percent) at the free-throw line. MATC dominated inside, outscoring Elgin 84-24 in the paint, while also holding a 74-31 edge in bench points and a 28-6 advantage in second-chance points.

"We are really deep, one through 15," Lawani said. "We are really deep and anybody can have a great night like I did tonight, but it's really whoever is "hot" that night. That's where we're going to lean toward.

UP NEXT
MATC (5-1) hosts College of Lake County at 8 p.m. Nov. 19.