Bulldogs Can't Hold Off Orioles; Losing 51-47

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The Madison Bulldogs allowed the Orioles to make their comeback and they lost their first game this season, 51-47 on the road.

It was mostly all Bulldogs from the opening tip, until the fourth quarter happened. Too much confidence or too sure of their leads? Maybe. Solid basketball for three quarters again by Madison to set the tone, then suddenly went dormant.

The fourth quarter is by far the worst quarter for Madison coming into the game and now it’s even worse. Allowing a season-high 31 points in the fourth. All without their star, Porter Ihnen.

Lennox may, dare I say, had this in the plans coming into the game. Madison allowed 23.5 points in the fourth quarter coming into the game. Going into the final quarter, the Orioles turned up the pressure. Full court press, numerous steals, offensive rebounds and a barrage of threes.

The Orioles had just one made three through three quarters and trailed by 17 going into the fourth quarter. Then suddenly they became a whole different team. For three quarters, they had been who they were all season. A team that plays hard, but never found its offense and were inefficient.

Tate Gerdes led the Orioles in scoring with 14 points. Followed by Braxton Musser who added 13 points, 12 of which came in the fourth quarter alone. Musser made three of his team’s six fourth quarter threes.

Madison was led in scoring by Ben Brooks with 11 points. Brooks had a tough night offensively and most of his looks were made difficult by Lennox. Myles Schneider added 10 points off the bench for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs are a really nice team top to bottom. They are. Though these fourth quarters are quite puzzling. Even head coach Jeff Larson in the Mustang Seeds postgame show following the loss, began at a loss of words. They get some days to work out the kinks and rest assured, they’ll be hard at work to fix what needs fixing.