DANVILLE, Ill. – Milwaukee Area Technical College men's basketball put up a valiant effort in an 82-72 opening round defeat to Orange County Community College Monday during the first round of the NJCAA Division II Men's Basketball National Tournament.

The Stormers led by as many as eight points in the first half before being outscored 42-35 in the second half, which left them to suffer a 10-point defeat. The first round loss moved MATC to the consolation bracket, where they are scheduled to face Raritan Valley Community College at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

"We had a tough day shooting the ball, but I'm proud of the guys for playing hard until the end," Stormers head coach Randy Casey said. "We will do our best to finish the season on a positive note in our game Wednesday."

The first half was a tightly contested battle. Both teams exchanged blows up until the Stormers managed to spark an 8-2 run, primarily led by a pair of made 3-pointers by Noah Daniels and Julian Valentine, that helped give them a slight 28-20 edge midway through the first half.

Leading 34-27 with a little over four minutes remaining until halftime, it looked as if MATC would be able to cling to a small lead heading into the break. However, Orange County's Marquis Gill caught fire, scoring 11 points (three 3-pointers) during a Colts' 13-6 run to close the half.

Trailing 40-37 at the break, the Stormers kept things close until Orange County went on a 10-0 run midway through the second half that helped widen the gap and ultimately allowed them to cruise to a first round victory over MATC.

Defensively, the Stormers had their issues protecting the paint. Orange County outscored MATC 52-26 in paint points, which helped allow the Colts to finish the contest shooting 46.3 percent from the field (38-for-82). In comparison, the Stormers shot 36.5 percent (27-for-74), including a 10-for-31 mark from distance (32.3 percent).

Collectively, MATC totaled 47 rebounds, 19 second-chance points, 16 bench points, and a dozen points off turnovers.

STAT BOOK
Sophomore Antonio Foxwell paced the Stormers with a team-high 18 points, eight rebounds, two assists, one block and a steal. Valentine added 16 points (5-for-10), four assists, two rebounds and one steal. Daniels notched a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds (six offensive rebounds) in 27 minutes off the bench. Sophomore Matthew Hoarde finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks, three assists, and a pair of steals. Sophomore Cyrus Little chipped in eight points, seven rebounds, five assists, two blocks and one steal.

UP NEXT
MATC (15-18) will compete against Raritan Valley Community College at 11 a.m. Wednesday as part of the consolation bracket.