ROCKFORD, Ill. – Powered by a huge second-half surge, the Milwaukee Area Technical College men's basketball team was able to survive and advance to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament for the sixth straight season after upsetting No. 3 seed South Suburban 85-74 as the No. 10 seed for the NJCAA Region 4 (Midwest B District) championship Saturday. Editor's Note: MATC opted to decline an invite to the 2021 NJCAA Playoffs due to COVID-19 precautions.

"This is a big accomplishment for our group [winning the Region 4 championship]," MATC head coach Randy Casey said. "Going into the tournament 12-17, not many people expected us to do what we did. Everybody within our walls thought we could do the things that we did and so for them to pull together and pull this off when not a lot of people expected them to is a great accomplishment. I'm very proud of them."

The Stormers erased a six-point halftime deficit and trailed as many as 10 points early on in the second half before gutting their way to an 11-point victory. As a result of the Region 4 championship win over the Bulldogs, the Stormers improved to 15-17 en route to capturing its seventh Region 4 championship in school history.

"All year we've gotten behind and figured out ways to get back into every basketball game, so it's something we're used to which isn't always a great thing, but it's great that we've been through that and so we know that have the capability of getting back into basketball games," Casey said of his team's ability to secure the win in comeback fashion.

After finding themselves trailing 41-35 at halftime, the Stormers came out into the second half firing on all cylinders. They shot 59.3 percent (16-for-27) as a team over the final 20 minutes of action, with all five of their starters going on to combine for 47 of the team's 50 points.

Starting freshman guard Julian Valentine led the Stormers' second-half scoring attack with a team-high 12 points, followed by sophomores Antonio Foxwell (11 points), Cyrus Little (11), Matthew Hoarde (8), and Owen Smith (5).

"We've been leaning on them [our starters] as of late and a good portion of those guys are sophomores," Casey said. "Little and Foxwell have been through that game before and that experience of being through that type of game really helped us."

A key turning point came after MATC found itself in its biggest hole trailing 50-40 at the 17:36 mark of the second half. With their backs against the wall, the Stormers sparked a 16-5 run over a six minute stretch that afforded them a 56-55 lead with a little under 12 minutes remaining. The swift turn of events gave MATC its first lead since early on in the first half. From that point on, both teams were able to continue trading blows before the Stormers closed things out on a 14-6 run over the final six minutes to seal the championship victory.

"Defensively, we picked it up and were able to get some stops, which definitely helps in the transition game," Casey said. "I think a key play was Little getting a steal off their point guard, which I think really affected him…you could see his demeanor change and so I think that helped us down the stretch."

Collectively, MATC shot well in all three phases on offense. They ended the evening shooting 53.7 percent from the field (29-for-54), 41.2 percent from deep (7-for-17), and 80 percent from the charity stripe (20-for-25).

STAT BOOK
Valentine led the Stormers with 21 points, two rebounds, two steals and one assist on 70 percent shooting (7-for-10). Little added 20 points, six rebounds, five assists, two steals and one block on 60 percent shooting (6-for-10). Hoarde poured in 19 points, four rebounds, two assists and one block. Foxwell notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

UP NEXT
MATC (15-17) will advance to the NJCAA Division II National Championship Tournament, which is set to take place between Mar. 17-22 at Danville Area Community College in Danville, Illinois.

The team will find out its seed and opening round opponent in the NJCAA Tournament on Tuesday (3/11). The NJCAA Division II Men's Basketball Selection Show will be available on the NJCAA Network.